Consequences of Redheads
by doing 25 life in azkaban
Summary: James Sirius Potter only wants the simple things in life, he wants to play Quidditch, he wants to get rich without putting in the effort, and he wants to be with the girl of his dreams. But we don't always get what we want. CH.27 AND EPILOGUE NOW POSTED!
1. The Potter Curse

**Disclaimer: I am not JK Rowling. I just like manipulating her characters to my will. Muhahahaha.**

His dad always teased his sons about the 'Potter curse.' Not the one for messy hair, the one that made Potters love redheads. It never bothered Al but James always argued (which was probably why his dad liked to tease him so much). There were enough redheads in his family already, there was no way he was going to fall in love with one, he just wasn't attracted to people with red hair.

And his feelings on the attractiveness of redheads didn't change until the beginning of his fourth year. He had known Charlotte since their first year, although he didn't have many classes with the Ravenclaw the one's they did have together James would spend magicking spitballs to hit her, pulling her long fiery red hair and doing all the other things that young boys did to make girls take notice of them, even if that notice consisted of yelling and kicking in sensitive areas. But it was, boarding the Hogwarts express to go to his forth year that he noticed the changes that occurred in one feisty Ravenclaw, and became the third-known-generation of Potter burdened by the curse.

The next years were spent torturing Charlotte in much different ways, instead of pulling her pigtail's, he admired the way the sun made her hair catch fire. Instead of throwing spitballs he passed notes. He found himself asking her out-and being rejected-nearly every day; his friends thought it was pitiful, Al thought it was hilarious.

James thought that Charlotte just couldn't get past the image him as the stupid boy giving her a Valentine in second year that erupted live mice when opened. Charlotte thought that he was only partly right with this assumption. James, in her opinion was and will always be an immature git whose only pleasure is in humiliating innocent people with useless pranks.

In the summer before his seventh year, when James was reminiscing about all of Charlotte's creative ways of making him fell like shit, he finally sucked up his pride and decided to ask for his dad's advice. When he told Harry of his situation Harry's first reaction was to yell "I told you so!" his second was to laugh, but he knew that neither of these reactions were appropriate nor were they good for his son's self esteem. So he simply told him about his grandparents and how his situation was very similar to theirs.

So it was with relinquished confidence that James went into his seventh and last year at Hogwarts. Thinking that his story would end like the first James's (getting the girl in his seventh year not dying in his early twenties) James continued in his conquest for the fiery redhead who thought he'd never amount to anything. But as his the seventh year came to a close and James still hadn't acquired even one date with his beloved James was forced to evaluate his situation and by the time he remembered the key part of his grandparents story it was too late and he was back at home preparing for his first practice as a member of the Montrose Magpies Quidditch team and Charlotte-_his_ redhead love-was traveling the world. You see James Sirius Potter forgot to grow up.

**A/N: So I got the Quidditch team Montrose Magpies from the Harry Potter wiki. I don't really pay attention to things like quidditch teams when I'm reading the books so I don't know if this team is real in the HPverse or not, but the wiki said that it was the most successful team in history. **

**Anyway, review and tell me what you think about the first chapter of my new story.**


	2. Charlotte Look Alike

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed on the first chapter. This chapter is a little sad in my opinion but I liked writing it. Enjoy!**

They had won the world cup. James Potter was eighteen and he, and his team, had won the cup! That was a cause for celebration, right? What better excuse did he have to get drunk with his friends and team mates than winning the world cup?

Charlotte getting engaged, that's what. He had seen her at the game. She was holding hands with some guy and she had a ring on the ring finger of her left hand! The giant diamond a top the ring shinned so bright that it was all he could see. And if just seeing her wasn't enough the guy she was with actually came up and talked to him and two of his team mates, apparently they had a boy with them-the guy's nephew-but James didn't see him, he only had eyes for Charlotte and her blinding ring. The same girl who he hadn't seen since the last train ride on the Hogwarts express, the same girl whom he had magicked a group of first years to sing a love ballad to in fifth year, the same girl who he still thought of fondly and wondered if she ever thought about him. It was hard to believe that that girl was the same girl who was now standing in front of him with a rock on her finger and who wouldn't meet his eye. It hit James harder than it should for someone who had never even dated her.

"You're married," he stated, his voice sounding monotone and dead to his own ears. Everyone-the guy, the kid, and James's team mates-stopped talking to look at him and Charlotte but James didn't notice this either.

"Not yet, but I will be in three months," she stated, her voice showed no emotion and she still wouldn't look at him.

"You know James Potter?" the kid asked Charlotte in disbelief.

Charlotte finally looked at James when she answered. "We went to school together," was what she said but James knew what message she was trying to convey with her eyes, 'that's all we did together so don't make a big deal about this,' they clearly stated.

"Would you mind giving Justin your autograph?" the guy asked, indicating the kid. "You're his favorite player."

"Sure thing," he said mechanically signing the piece of paper the kid shoved in his face. "Here you go Justin." The kid beamed as though James had given him ten thousand galleons.

"We should go," Charlotte told the guy and the kid. She walked off with a quick, "Bye James."

"Congratulations Charlotte!" he yelled at her back, but he knew it sounded fake.

In his opinion that was a great reason to get drunk. He knew that in a few weeks he would be happy that she was happy, but right now he couldn't decide whether to be angry at her for not telling him, self-hating for ever thinking that she would give him a second thought, or depressed that the only girl he had ever loved was marrying someone else.

So when his team mates asked him if he wanted to go celebrate he said yes. The way he saw it, after a few drinks his mind would just pick an emotion and he would go with it.

Whether by luck or by chance he spotted an Irish girl across the bar; she had dark red hair and was about the same build as Charlotte. He kept his eye on her and after a few more drinks she resembled Charlotte more and more. He asked her to dance, she accepted. If Charlotte had only accepted him once she might be engaged to _him _right now. He didn't know what glass of Firewhiskey he was on when he suggested that they leave. Once again she accepted and they Apparated to his hotel room, both giggling uncontrollably.

She immediately made herself comfortable on his bed, her skirt falling past her waist. James was too drunk to dwell on the fact that he'd never actually done _this_ before. He had come close once at Hogwarts but he didn't remember that well, which was probably a result of the concussion he'd received from hitting his head on a low shelf, which was the reason why he'd only come close to having sex.

She was beckoning to him with her index finger, her red hair falling into her eyes. It was one night, no strings, no commitments, and no memories in the morning. Just one night with a Charlotte look-a-like who did not reject him _because_ he was James Sirius Potter.

**A/N: I didn't give Charlotte's fiance a name because James wouldn't care enough to know, or want to for that matter. Plus he isn't a major character. **

**Review and tell me what you think will happen.**


	3. Shit Like This Only Happens To Me Part 1

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far, I really like this chapter and I hope you do too. **

James still lived with his parents, he was only nineteen after all and between Quidditch practices and Quidditch games James barley had time to sleep so what was the point in wasting his money on a house he would barely live in.

He was sitting with his sister, Lily, who was home for the summer. He had the week off from Quidditch practices and he was sitting there watching television, he didn't even look up when there was a tap on the window. "Get that," he told Lily, not taking his eyes off the television.

"You get it."

"I'm on my break."

"So am I."

"Stop being a lazy little shit and open the window for the poor bird!" He smirked as she sighed and got out of her chair to open the window. (James-1, Lily-0)

To James's surprise a group of four large birds carrying a box with holes poked through it flew into the living room. Dropping the box on the coffee table they flew out of the window they had come through.

"It's for you," Lily said, handing him the letter taped to the top of the box.

_James, _it said in untidy scrawl. It looked as though it had been written in a hurry.

_I don't want it._

_Good luck, _

_Darrie (the girl you slept with in Ireland after the Quidditch cup) _

James wondered why Charlotte-look-a-like was contacting him. Didn't he promise that there would be no commitment's, no strings attached? Was there no respect for the age old tradition of one night stands anymore? And what did she mean she doesn't want it? Want what? There was only one way to find out.

James opened the box and was faced with a peacefully sleeping baby. Lily, who had apparently seen the look of shock and disbelief on her brothers face walked over. "What is-" she stopped when she saw _IT_. "Who sent you a baby?"

"Some girl I met when I went to Ireland for the cup," he said, still staring at _IT. _

"Is _IT_…Is _IT_ yours?"

"I hope not."

Lily smacked him on the head, hard. "Did you sleep with the girl?"

"Yes, but for all I know she sleep with hundreds of other men before, and after, me so _IT_ might not be mine!" Their arguing had brought the middle Potter child from his room, a rare occasion in and of its self. "What's going on?" Al asked.

Lily answered before James got a chance to do so, "Someone sent James a baby and there is a good chance _IT_'s his."

Al looked at them like they were crazy. "No, seriously," he laughed, "why are you two arguing?"

"Al, just come here and look," James ordered, pointing at the box in front of him.

Al stood on James's other side and looked into the box. "Bloody hell! Who would send a _baby_ through owl post?"

"ALBUS!" James-who was clearly having some kind of breakdown-yelled. "The proper use of owl post is the least of our problems at the moment!"

"What should we do?" Lily asked, looking at _IT_, who had now woken up and was staring at the three teenagers.

"We'll do what we always do when we need help," Al said, also staring at _IT. _

"Good thinking Al." James made his way to the fireplace, grabbed a handful of floo powder and threw it in. Sticking his head into the green flames he yelled "Flat over Weasley Wizard Wheezes, Hogsmeade!" When he could see the furniture of the home he wanted he yelled for the only person who could help him. "Teddy!" Teddy Lupin came into view along with his girls, Lita and Leslie. "What is it James?" he asked as the girls yelled, "Hi James!"

"Hi girls," James said quickly. "Teddy, will you come over for a bit? It's an emergency." Teddy nodded and after telling Victoire where he was going James moved out of the fire place to make room for Teddy to come through.

"Alright, what's the emergency?" Teddy asked, brushing soot from his clothes. James drug him to the coffee table where_ IT_ still lay in the box. Teddy stood beside the Potter siblings and looked at _IT._

"Well, looks to me like you have a baby."

"Thank you, Teddy, we thought it was a box of turnip's" said James sarcastically. "Now what do you suppose we should do about _IT_?"

"What do you mean 'what should you do about _IT?_' It's a baby, James, not a rat. Have you even gotten it out of this box?" The siblings looked at each other guiltily; taking _IT_ out of the box hadn't even crossed their minds.

Teddy gently picked the baby up and set it's head on his shoulder; _IT_ looked around the room with big hazel eyes. "Now," he said. "Tell me; why did you received a baby in the owl post?" James told Teddy and his siblings about the Charlotte-look-a-like, not leaving anything out. When he was finished and he had shown Teddy the note Teddy spoke. "There's only one thing we can do at the moment. We'll figure out what else needs to be done after that."

"What's that?" all three siblings asked.

"We need to see if James is the father."

"You know how to do that?" Lily asked.

"Yes, I looked up how to do it when Lita and Leslie were born. Not that I don't trust Vic, I just wanted to see if it would work. Lily get me a glass." Lily did as she was told and Teddy took a moment to let _IT _drool in the cup. "It's preferred to do this with blood but spit works too," he told them shoving the cup in front of James, who spit into it. Teddy handed _IT _to James, who wasn't as skilled at holding babies as Teddy was. He stuck the tip of his wand into the spit and starting stirring. "If at the end of a minute it turns red the baby isn't yours if it's blue it is."

The four of them watched as the spit changed colors and when Al announced that a minute was up the spit settled on an unmistakable blue. Although, James did try to say that he thought it looked purple but no one was listening.

"What do we do now?" Lily asked no one in particular.

"I think you should tell Harry and Ginny," Teddy answered.

"NO!" James screamed, making _IT _start to cry.

"James you have to tell them," Teddy said, adjusting James's hold on the baby so he wouldn't drop _IT. _"They'll notice that there's a baby in the house eventually."

James looked at the baby who was still crying softly in his arms. "Do I have to?" he asked in one final attempt.

"They have a right to know James. And you might want to see what gender your baby is before you tell them. They'll want to know things like that. Now, I've got kids of my own to get back too. Good luck James." Teddy said a quick goodbye and flooed back to his home.

**A/N: If you have read my first story then you would have seen that coming, maybe not coming in the owl post but coming none the less. Also, Darrie is an Irish name that means red-haired, which is really the only thing anyone knows about the Charlotte look-a-like.**

**Please review!**


	4. Shit Like This Only Happens To Me PartII

**A/N: This was originally two very short chapters but I decided to be generous and make it one long one. Enjoy!**

He had never been this nervous in his entire life. Not when he had auditioned for a spot on the Quidditch team, not during his first game, and certainly not when he had told Charlotte that he was in love with her. This was a whole new degree of nervousness. He felt like his heart was going to jump out of his chest and his stomach was twisting its self into knots.

Was this how teen mothers felt when they told their parents about being pregnant? If so he felt sorry for them.

James thought he would be sick when he heard the door open and Albus and Lily ran upstairs, most people would have thought that his siblings were being tactful by giving him and his parents a chance to talk but James knew better, mainly because before they left Al muttered "You're screwed," to James.

So James was left alone with _IT_, listening to the sound of his parents make their way to the living room. Quickly he lowered _IT_ back into the box. And _IT _regarded him with big hazel eyes, not crying, merely curious as to why _IT_ was going back into the box. Ginny walked into the living room as James straightened up and moved in front of the box, blocking it from view. "Hey James," Ginny smiled at her eldest, "How was your day?"

James decided to ignore her question, "I got a package today," he stated nervously, he didn't know why he was starting the conversation out this way but he knew where it would end up.

"From who?" Harry asked, coming in and sitting on a reclining chair.

"Well," James shifted his weight from one foot to another and looked anywhere but at his parents. "From this girl I met at the World Cup."

"I didn't know you met a girl at the World cup," Ginny seemed a little miffed at not being clued in.

"Were not exactly friends. But we did…err…'hit it off.'"

"What did she want?" Harry asked, more at tune with his son's distress.

"She…err…had some news."

"What kind of "news" did she have?" Ginny asked wearily.

"Err…..It might be best if I just show you." James turned his back on them and awkwardly picked _IT_ out of the box. _IT _gurgled happily at James, grateful to be out of the box.

He turned back to his parent's stunned faces. "Bloody Hell, James!" Ginny shouted, "How did you get that!"

"Well," James decided that he was already in a shit load of trouble; he might as well add 'smart ass' to that list too. "When a man and a woman have intercourse, a man's semen enters th-"

"Enough!" Ginny cut him off. "I meant why did you go and knock up some girl!"

"It wasn't intentional!" James shouted back, "It's not like I go around the world thinking 'who can I impregnate here?'"

"But you're nineteen!" Ginny yelled. "You shouldn't be in this situation in the first place!"

"Well, I am."

"It might not be yours, James," Harry suggested.

James sighed, "It is, Teddy came and he did this weird thing with our spit and it turned blue and the baby is mine!" Harry and Ginny looked at each other, both thinking that their son had gone bonkers.

There was silence for a long time and James's mind was racing, what were they going to do? He couldn't see his dad giving _IT_ away to an orphanage. But what did James know about taking care of an ankle bitter?

"You know that you're going to have to take responsibility for this, don't you James?" Harry asked.

"I had a feeling," James groaned.

Ginny looked like she was in shock but, like most mums, she decided to take action to keep her mind from straying to the truth.

"Alright," She said. "Al, Lily, get down here!" She didn't have to raise her voice much because she knew that they were probably listening. They both came down at their mothers command, knowing that there would be hell to pay if they didn't. "Harry, you and Al are going to go to the attic and see if you can find any of the old baby stuff. Lily's bassinet should be up there, and James's crib. There should be a changing table too, and see what else you can find." Harry and Al nodded and headed up the stairs as quickly as possible.

"Lily, you are coming with me to get everything else we need. Diapers, clothes, baby lotion, bottles, formula, and anything else." Lily nodded also, not wanted to argue with her mum when she was in this state.

"What do I do?" James asked, switching _IT_ to a more comfortable position.

"You," Ginny said, "Are going to stay here and get to know your baby!"

"'Get to know your baby,'" James mimicked after Ginny and Lily left. "What's there to know?" He sat down on the sofa and sat _IT _in front of him. "I guess I'll start by seeing if you're a boy or a girl." James knew that he was practically talking to himself but in his opinion he had a reason to be a little loony.

He undid the buttons on the bottom of _IT's_ yellow outfit. But not without a fight, _IT_ wiggled _IT's_ little feet out of James's reach and giggled when he got frustrated, thinking that this was a game.

When James finally unbuttoned the bottom of the outfit he took a quick peek inside of _IT's_ diaper. "So you're a girl," he stated, he felt like he had violated the little ankle bitters privacy and _IT-_-she-giggled at his embarrassment as if to say, 'silly man, you made me, there's no reason to act that way.'

James realized that she had on a little yellow cap to match her outfit, "You must be burning up," he said, regarding the hat, "It's the middle of May!" James took off the hat to reveal a tuft of red hair. He groaned, "Oh, great, your going to look like the Charlotte look-a-like aren't you? Which would make you look like Charlotte too, shit like this could only happen to me." _IT _just looked up at him with his eyes. "So, you're a girl, you have hazel eyes, and," he grimaced, "red hair." If he had to be cursed with a baby at nineteen why couldn't it have been blond, he wasn't in love with any blonds!

"I suppose I can't call you _IT_ forever, but what to name you?" He mused as _IT_ just stared up at him. How about Joanne?" _IT _stuck its tongue out at him. "Abigail?" No response. "Helen? Stacie…Susan…Mindy?" Still no response. "I don't know many girl names! This would be easier if you were a boy. Darcie…Nicole…Sarah?" James went through about twenty minutes and who knows how many names before he came to, "Amber," _IT _smiled. James's face lit up. "Amber," he said again and she gurgled happily, "Finally," he sighed.

Harry and Al came down shortly after the naming of Amber. "Guess what," James commanded Harry happily.

"I imagined that my teenage son has a baby?" Harry guessed.

"No," James said while picking up Amber to reassure her Grandpa that she was real.

"Than what?" Al asked.

"We've bonded," James said proudly.

"Bonded?" Harry echoed.

"Yes, I found out that she's a girl, she has my eyes, and red hair and her name is Amber," James looked very proud of himself as he displayed all his knowledge about Amber.

"How do you know her name is Amber?" Harry asked. "Did that girl send a birth certificate with the baby?"

"Her name is Amber because I named her, and I haven't checked for a birth certificate," James admitted.

Al walked over to the box which was still sitting on the coffee table and shuffled through the blanket which had been laid hastily at the bottom. "There is one!" Al cried. "It looks like the girl left everything blank though." He handed it to James who made a mental note to fill it out later. "Do you think that if I gave Amber the middle name, Ginny, that mum would be a little less pissed at me?" James asked his dad.

Harry shrugged, "It couldn't hurt."

**A/N: Surprisingly I had a difficult time figuring out names for James to go through and I ended up just using some of my friends names (and my own). And yes, I see Harry as the kind of dad who has a tv and a recliner, he saved the wizarding world, he deserves a recliner.**

**Review please!**


	5. First Night

**A/N: This is just a chapter to show how James is handling the whole Amber situation, the next chapter he'll have to bring her to meet the rest of the family. Thanks for the reviews.**

**Disclaimer: Let me check...nope, still not J.K. Rowling.**

James was told by his mum not to worry too much about Amber having red hair, "You had red hair when you were born," she had told him while teaching him how to fix Amber a bottle, "and it's as black as your dads now." So he had decided not to worry about it and hope that the situation would resolve itself.

Al and Harry had set up a bassinet in the middle of James's room-despite his protests that Amber would be more comfortable sleeping somewhere else, anywhere else.

Ginny and rocked Amber to sleep that first night, but only to show James how, he would be expected to do it from now on. She was curious about the name, just as Al and Harry had been, though she was more curious about Amber's middle name.

"Why Ginny?" she asked laying a sleeping Amber in her crib, "my name is Ginevra."

James rolled his eyes, "I know but Amber Ginny sounds a lot better than Amber Ginevra," he scoffed at the name.

"I suppose," Ginny pondered. "Are you just naming her after me to get on my good side?"

James looked offended, "I chose your name because I want Amber to be as strong, witty, and wonderful as the mother I love."

Ginny raised a curious eyebrow, "And the fact that I am thinking about making it so that my stupid son, who got a girl he doesn't even know pregnant at nineteen, can have no more illegitimate children, has nothing to do with your decision?"

"That might have been small factor in the naming process," he allowed.

Ginny tried in vain to hide a small smile, "Goodnight, James."

"Wait," James, whisper shouted-so as not to wake Amber-at his mum's retreating back. "What do I do if she wakes up?"

"I've already taught you to make a bottle and you know how to change a diaper," James stared at her blankly. "Oh...well, you'll figure it out. If she wakes up try everything until she falls back to sleep. But please cast a silencing charm, the rest of us have to sleep." She winked at her bewildered son and walked out of the room.

James was left alone in his room which he now shared with his-he cringed at the word-daughter. If anyone had told him a week ago that he would be a single dad to a little red haired ankle bitter then he would have recommended them to Mungo's long-term ward. Yet, here he was.

He looked down at Amber's sleeping form, sighed heavily and lied roughly across his bed. Today had not gone the way he had wanted it to go. He had woken up intending to laze around the house and maybe annoy Lily so much that she would hex him and then receive a warning from the ministry. But no, he gets a baby instead.

James drifted to sleep and dreamt of being drowned by red-haired baby's who all yelled 'Dada'. He was woken after what seemed like a few moments to a high pitched squealing coming from the bassinet. James groaned and got up. Amber's face was red and blotchy as she sobbed.

James looked to the clock on his nightstand which read three a.m.

"Why couldn't you just sleep through the night?" he asked Amber, who cried even louder in answer. "Fine," he sighed as he picked her up out of the bassinet. "Let's see what's wrong with you," James peeked into her diaper, it was full. He didn't know whether to be happy or not. On the one hand, he had figured out why she was upset and it could be quickly fixed. On the other hand, he had no idea how to change a diaper. But how hard could it be?

It turned out that it was very hard; Amber kicked her legs angrily as she screamed her displeasure. It took him a full ten minutes to get the dirty diaper off but after that was done he didn't know what the hell to do about the mess. Looking around on the old changing table that Lily and Ginny had stocked earlier that day he found a box that was conveniently labeled 'baby wipes.' He had seen Teddy do this before with the twins, so he had a vague idea of what was suppose to happen: remove diaper, clean mess, put on new diaper. It seemed easy enough but the very thought of wiping the mess off of Amber's backside made James gag. The actual process was even worse and he was more than relieved to get the clean diaper on and button the outfit back.

He allowed himself a triumphant dance that he had completed his task and he put a now clean, Amber back into her bassinet. Though something was wrong, she was still crying.

"Come on, Amber," he begged, "I have to sleep!" But Amber paid no attention to her dad's distress as she cried on. He picked her back up into his arms, "What do you expect me to do?" he asked her.

He had remembered seeing Victoire rock Lita and Leslie to sleep but James had no rocking chair. He recalled the recliner downstairs and decided to try to rock Amber back to sleep using that.

He didn't bother to be quiet as he walked down to the living room, knowing his family they had probably put muffling charms on their rooms so they wouldn't be able to hear Amber cry. He went into the kitchen and made a bottle for Amber (his mum had said to try everything) and then he went and rocked Amber on the recliner…and rocked…and rocked. By four in the morning she was still screaming her head off and her voice had gone hoarse. "What do you want?" he whined when he tried-and failed-to get her to take her bottle for the fifth time.

By four thirty his legs had fallen asleep and he was exhausted, he stood up to rock her in his arms. By five he was at his wits end and decided to try and sing Amber to sleep.

"Go to sleep, go to sleep,

Because you daddy is losing it,

Go to sleep, go to sleep,

Because your daddy doesn't know how to deal with this shit,

Your mummy sent you through owl post,

So now your daddy suffers the most,

So if you love the guy, who's trying to take care of you,

You'd fall asleep and make these late nights few."

James had to admit that it was a great song to come up with from the top of his head, but he'd never be able to sing it to her when she was older, she'd think that he didn't love her. But on that thought, did he love her? Sure she was his kid, and dads were supposed to love their children. But there was no way that James Sirius Potter could be a dad to any child, let alone little girl. He was too selfish; he lacked the patience necessary to raise a child. He wasn't ready to be a parent; he was still a kid himself. What had he gotten himself into? "Shit like this only happens to me," he whined.

When Amber finally fell asleep the sun was coming up and shining through the windows. James looked at the sleeping infant in his arms and that was when he realized that it's not just about him anymore, he had a daughter, he was going to have to get use to it and try to be the best parent for her, he was the only one she had after all.

That morning his family woke up to find James passed out on the floor, two feet away from the recliner-as though he had tried and failed to make it to a chair before falling asleep-cradling the new occupant of their house in his arms.

**A/N: Review please! :)**


	6. Good Smells and Meeting the Family

**A/N: I had to put the little randomness at the beginning, because baby's smell so GOOD! This chapter actually turned out longer than I thought it would. Enjoy!**

Harry and Ginny weren't exactly use to the idea of being grandparents yet, but James was glad that they were playing the whole thing off around him. He didn't think he'd be able to face the horrific situation of raising a surprise ankle bitter if they had made a big deal out of everything. He was scared enough that he would screw the kid up, if they hadn't made parenting look so easy he would have been crippled by his fear of her.

He reflected on this as he (and the rest of the family) was giving Amber her first bath in preparation to unveil her to the _whole_ family later that day. She was giggling and splashing in the water, Ginny had snapped a couple of pictures, and Harry promised James that he could use them later in her life to embarrass her.

James would have to remember to do that.

The family watched but left James to do the actual washing of the baby, saying the whole time, "If you don't bond with Amber now then you'll never have a good relationship with your daughter."

James didn't see how doing things like washing Amber and changing her diaper were suppose to make him love her. Maybe it was something that would develop over time?

After her bath the rest of the family went to do various things to get ready to go to the Burrow while James was left to get Amber ready. As he was toweling her off he caught a wonderful scent. He sniffed around to see where it was coming from and was surprised to find that it was Amber!

He took a whiff of her fine, toweled dry, hair; it smelled great!

James quickly dressed Amber in a little green dress that Ginny had picked out for the occasion, Ginny and Lily had bought a bunch of clothes for Amber after they had found out her gender though both refused to buy anything pink for her. James really couldn't care less what she wore but he had to admit that she looked adorable in the frilly green outfit. He quickly went to find someone to share his daughters smell with after she was dressed. He found his dad in the living room with Lily, "Hey, dad," he said getting Harry and Lily's attention. He positioned Amber's head under his dad's nose, "Take a whiff of that!"

Harry looked at James like he was crazy but obediently sniffed Amber's head. "Yes, and?"

It was James turn to look at Harry like he was crazy. He lifted Amber back into his arms and sniffed her again. "Don't you smell that?" he asked Harry. "She smells so good!"

Lily rolled her eyes at her bother. "James," she sighed, "that's the new baby smell, every baby smells like that."

James was confused, this was the first time that he had noticed the smell, up until then Amber had just smelled like a nasty diaper, not exactly a pleasing scent.

He shrugged and walked away, still sniffing at Amber's head. Maybe they just couldn't smell it.

They left shortly after James's odd conversation with Harry and when they arrived at the Burrow James, who was holding Amber, was ambushed by his Gran and half of his aunts. "Aww," they cooed at Amber who was looking at them with a bewildered expression, never having seen so many people before. "Whose baby is this?" Molly asked no one in particular. Ginny gave James a significant look and James knew that she wasn't going to help him with this.

"She's mine," he sighed.

His Gran laughed, "Seriously James, who'd you barrow such a cute baby from?"

"I bought her off of the black market, Gran," he said rolling his eyes. "Only twenty galleons, it was an offer I couldn't refuse."

This earned him a smack of his head from his mum. "This is Amber, mum," she said, knowing that nothing would get done if she didn't help her son out. "When James went to Ireland for the World Cup he…had a little too much fun and got a baby."

There was silence in the crowded living room as everyone stared at James and Amber in astonishment. James could feel his face heating up at all of their stares, he liked getting attention but this was the wrong kind, too tense. And then, George burst into uncontrollable fits of laughter.

Ginny, Hermione, and Molly fixed him with stern looks, while his own wife just rolled her eyes, use to random laughter at the most inappropriate of times. "I'm not kidding, and this isn't a joke," Ginny reminded him.

"Oh, I know that your not joking, little sister," George smiled, whipping a tear of mirth from his eye. "I'm just so happy that I won the bet."

"What bet?" Hermione asked, as Ron reluctantly dug into his pocket for George's money.

"The one I made with Ron, I bet that letting James go to Ireland by himself with only his teammates would be a mistake and that he would end up doing something stupid that would later bite him in the ass. Ron thought he would have better sense," George said shaking his head at his younger brother's lack of judgment as Ron handed him his winnings. "Though I never dreamed that my proof would come in such a small package," he cooed at little Amber, who giggled.

There was an outraged silence broken this time by James. "I had better get a part of that gold," he said. "You wouldn't have it if it wasn't for me."

"So true," George said counting out half for James.

"What is the matter with you three?" Molly asked. "Ronald, George, I know I raised the two of you better than to bet on your nephew's misfortune. And you James Sirius Potter," James gulped; it was never a good sign when anyone used his full name. "What would posses you to do such a thing? What were you thinking?" She was waiting for an answer, and James didn't know what to say. He was receiving pitying glances from Lily, Albus, and Teddy, the only people in the room who actually knew what he _was_ thinking at the time; that he had slept with a girl that looked like another girl that he was pining for. But he wasn't about to announce his reasons to his whole family; it wasn't something that he wanted to advertise. So he just hung his head and shrugged his shoulders.

Molly sighed and took Amber from his arms; James jerked his head back up, shocked at the sudden withdrawal of Amber from his arms, which seemed to always be accompanied by her weight. "What was her name, again?" Molly asked, inspecting the bewildered baby. "Amber Ginny Potter," James said.

"Who named her?" his Granddad asked, looking at her red hair, no doubt thinking that it was Weasley hair.

"I did."

Molly simply nodded. "I'll need to knit her some booties," she murmured.

James sighed in relief, if Gran was planning to knit Amber something then that meant the she was accepted as part of the family. But that didn't mean that he would get off of the hook so easily. "I don't see why you didn't come and tell use sooner," she berated him.

"Teddy knew too and he didn't tell you!" James said, trying to get some of the heat off of himself.

Teddy looked up, shocked that James would rat him out like that.

"You were here yesterday, Teddy Lupin, and you didn't tell me!" Molly shouted.

"Git, that's the last time I help you!" Teddy exclaimed as Molly, Fleur, Victoire, and other members of the family looked at him with accusing faces.

The rest of the evening passed with minimal questions directed to James and a lot of passing Amber around. James didn't go around making sure everyone was holding her right, like most new parents would-he trusted his family, they knew what they were doing when it came to babies-but that didn't mean that he didn't miss her already familiar weight in his arms.

Lita and Leslie went around calling him "git" at every turn, having learned that new word from their dad, but that didn't bother James as much as it did Teddy who kept trying to get them to stop before Vic heard.

Ron got a kick of reminding Harry that he was a grandpa now and only stopped when Rose, who had had enough of her dad's childish behavior, held her stomach and said, sheepishly, "Well, dad, that's actually something I wanted to talk to you about."

It took Hermione ten minutes to revive Ron, who had fainted, and have a laughing Rose assure him that it was just a joke. He didn't find it very funny but everyone else did, and Ron didn't talk much the rest of the night.

All in all, James thought that things could have gone worse.

**A/N: I have been asked a lot about Charlotte and when she's coming back but you all need to be patient. She might not be back for a while, she's married by now, remember? **

**You know the drill by now, so press that little _go_ button and leave me a review. **


	7. An Old Memory and a Sick Baby

**A/N: The italicised part of this is a flashback, I might do those in some chapters since I skipped over James's Hogwarts years and why he loves Charlotte so much. And yes Lily is a little scary in this flashback, I like it like that. Enjoy! **

**By the way, chapters this week might be a little sporadic, just to give you a heads up.**

_James had just finished pranking a group of Slytherins and was now going to meet up with his partner in crime and favorite cousin, Freddie Weasley. _

_Though, as he rounded a corner he ran into someone and saw an unwelcome sight on the breast of the person he knocked to the ground; a gleaming badge with a P engraved into it; a prefect, he was caught._

_"James Potter," a familiar voice-that was beautiful even as it was yelling at him-shrieked. "You're already in trouble for that prank you pulled in the Great Hall; you didn't have to add 'knocking me to the ground' as another reason for me to give you a detention!" _

_"Charlotte, Charlotte, Charlotte," James shook his head in mock disappointment at her. "You're not going to give me a detention." He extended a hand to help her up but she ignored it and stood up herself. She glared up at him and James couldn't fight the urge to smile, she was so cute when she was mad, and she only came to his shoulder, which made her angry state even more adorable._

_"What makes you think that?" she asked putting her hands on her hips, "Of course I'm giving you a detention, and if you keep talking I'll give you more than one."_

_"No you won't," he stated, "because I had a very good reason to prank that particular group of Slytherins."_

_She snorted, "Of all the things you do, James, I've never known you to take a part in house rivalry, so what possible reason did you have?"_

_"My wonderful detention-getting-out-of reason for pranking them was because they happened to be teasing Lily," he stated as though this made perfect sense. "Now, Lily is usually the type of girl that will handle a bully all by herself and she hates to have help doing so, but I figured that I would spare her a detention and do my duty as her big brother."__  
_

_Charlotte looked shocked. "Y-you don't have a little sister," she accused._

_"Ah, Charlotte," James shook his head again, "how little you know about me! We could fix that if you would go to Hogsmeade with me."_

_Charlotte had to admire the way he could sneak asking her out into any conversation that they had, but she didn't tell him that. "I don't believe you, I'd have to see this 'sister' of yours before I determine whether or not to give you a detention."_

_"I'd gladly introduce you to little Lily but if you agreed to go out with me I'd take the detention and we wouldn't have to go through all of this."_

_"Not a chance. Now show me your sister so I don't have to talk to you any longer than necessary."_

_James put his hand over his heart, "Charlotte you wound me." Charlotte rolled her eyes at his antics. Then the atmosphere abruptly changed, James's eyes widened and were staring fixedly at something behind her shoulder. He crouched down in an attempt to get smaller. Was he trying to _hide _behind her?_

_"James what are you doing?" she hissed._

_"You'll get to meet Lily sooner rather than later and she she's not happy."_

_"JAMES SIRIUS POTTER!" a voice shrieked and Charlotte looked behind her to see a small red haired girl who looked to be in her third year, wearing Slytherin robes. Was this who James was hiding from?_

_"James I can see you!" The girl accused. James straightened up with a sheepish look on his face. "Oh, hey there Lily, what brings you here?" he said in an attempt to act innocent. "I'm just talking to my friend," Charlotte scoffed at the word, "Charlotte. Charlotte, Lily, Lily, Charlotte." He kept eyeing the wand in Lily's left hand, Lily may be only a third year but the things she could do with that wand would make a grown man cry._

_Lily ignored her brother and advanced slowly toward him. "Why. Did. You. Do. That?" She hissed through her teeth, Charlotte had to admit that she had only been in this girl's presence for a few moments and she was scared too._

_James stood his full height and put on a brave face. "Lily," he said calmly. "I understand that you are more than capable of defending yourself but these guys are seventh years, they know magic that you won't learn for years. I didn't want you to get hurt and then have to explain to mum and dad why I wasn't looking out for you."_

_"What makes you think that I was going to duel them?" she asked with a wicked little smile. _

_James gulped and Charlotte was lost. "Lily," James said a slight tremor of fear in his voice. "You know that poisoning people is considered a crime right?"_

_Charlotte looked from James to Lily, frightened. Was this little girl capable of something that horrible?_

_Lily dawned a look of deep annoyance. "James," she sighed. "Your scaring your 'friend' and I didn't say I was going to poison them. You're not the only one who can use Canary Creams to your advantage."_

_Charlotte sighed in relief. But James didn't look swayed. "Canary Creams aren't your style, Lily," he reminded her._

_"Well that's true, but I was going to use a method for payback like Canary Creams. I was planning to put it in their food during the Halloween Feast."_

_"Do remember what dad said about putting your potions into someone's food? He won't be happy if you kill someone because you're experimenting again."_

_Lily looked offended. "They won't _die_," she assured her brother,"though they might have to spend some time getting to know the hospital wing. But now that you went and pulled your little prank I have an entire cauldron of what I like to call 'Essence of Revenge' and no one to use it on." There was silence as Lily thought then she smirked, "I'd be careful what you eat for a while James," she warned then she turned on her heel and walked off._

_James and Charlotte stood and watched in shock as Lily walked away. _

_"Maybe you should get your food straight from the house elves this year?" Charlotte suggested, she didn't know what Lily Potter's 'Essence of Revenge' did but she was sure it wouldn't be pleasant. _

_James shook his head, "As flattered as I am that you're worried for my well being it's no use," he said. "Even if I evade her for the rest of the year she knows where I live."_

James was barley aware that he was dreaming, or more accurately, remembering. He had memory/dreams like this sometimes; they almost always had something to do with Charlotte. He supposed that was because night time was the only time he was able to think about her; Amber usually kept him too busy to think.

But that didn't matter, it was time for him to get up now, he could tell from Amber crying in her crib (his live alarm clock). James reluctantly got out of bed and went back to reality. Picking up Amber he went downstairs to make her a bottle. He glanced at the calendar on the wall and smiled at Amber who was trying to grasp the bottle but wasn't strong enough to hold it by herself yet. "Did you know that you're a month old today?" He asked as she sucked down her breakfast. "Or rather _I _got you a month ago. We don't actually know when you were born do we, Amber?" Amber just looked at him with a 'Can't you see I'm eating?' look on her face.

James had to admit that the past month hadn't been easy. He had had to go back to work after the first week and Ginny took care of Amber during James's irregular hours but he was expected to race back home after practice was over. Not that he minded, he found that he'd rather be with Amber anyway. Games were difficult to manage but he usually apperated back the moment they were over.

His teammates were told about Amber but none of them had met her yet and James was surprised to find that his friends on the team just didn't understand why he could never stay and celebrate with them. Then again most of them didn't have kids but the few teammates who also had kids were a lot more understanding and even seemed vaguely interested in Amber. But those men had wives to help them take care of their kids, James just had his parents.

As James was burping Amber he heard footsteps coming down the stares and into the kitchen. Amber gave a burp and a cough when Harry walked into the kitchen. James looked at her, "Did she just cough?" he asked Harry, who shrugged sleepily.

Amber coughed again. James's eyes widened, she had never coughed before, what was wrong was she sick?

"Didn't you hear that?" he asked Harry frantically. "I think she's sick!"

"Babies get sick sometimes, James," Harry said. "It's probably just the sniffles."

"Just the sniffles! Didn't you hear that horrible hacking cough?"

Harry looked at him like he was crazy. "I don't think you and I are hearing the same things because what I heard was barely even a cough and there was nothing horrible about it."

Ginny came down at that moment and James ambushed her. "Mum, Amber's sick! What do I do?"

Ginny looked Amber over, "She doesn't look sick to me," she mused, "What makes you think she is?"

James turned Amber in his arms to where she was facing her grandma and, as if on cue, she gave a feeble cough.

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Oh, no, what ever shall we do!" she mocked.

James just glared at her, not appreciating her sarcasm.

"Hand her to me," Ginny sighed. James did so obediently and Ginny went to the pantry and withdrew a vial of some potion. Opening it she dropped three drops into Amber's mouth.

She handed her back to James, "I've done all I can. She should stop coughing by lunch."

James groaned as Amber coughed again, he'd have to listen to her cough until _mid-day_. His poor sick baby!

**A/N: Tell me what you think about it. **


	8. Words

**A/N: I know that this chapter is really too short to be acceptable but I haven't had a lot of time to write this week so I did what I could with it. Also, a lot of you have been confused as to why Lily had on Slytherin robes in the last chapter and the reason is because I think she would be a Slytherin. Some people also asked where this left Al but I haven't gotten that far with developing my version of Albus to know what house I want him in. You may not agree with me in some of the ways I interpreted J.K's characters but I don't really care. Your reading this so you obviously don't mind that much.**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter. Enjoy!**

James was downstairs with Amber who was now almost five months old, James had to admit that she was a lot more fun now that she could do more than eat, sleep, and poop. She liked to babble off baby talk all the time, though none of it was anywhere near actual talk. She could recognize James as her main caregiver-or dad, though it was still hard for him to think of that word-and always smiled when she saw him. She liked to play with her hands and figure out how they worked and could blow raspberries. And best of all, she could laugh.

James thought that Amber had one of the cutest laughs he had ever heard and it was made even cuter by the way her chubby little face bunched together when she smiled and the way her hazel eyes shined.

He loved to make her laugh just so he could hear it, which was what he was doing now; Amber was laying on the couch as James tickled her belly and laughed with her. That was until Ginny came into the room. "Shouldn't you feed her now?" she asked her son.

"Aw," James complained. "Can't I feed her later, we're playing!"

"James," Ginny warned.

"Come on Amber," James sighed, picking up a still giggling Amber and taking her to the kitchen. "You Gran can't go half the day without ruining our fun."

Ginny rolled her eyes, "Actually Amber," she said, bending down so she was talking directly to Amber who was now in her highchair. "If it wasn't for your Gran you probably wouldn't be fed at all."

She walked out of the kitchen after that doing James didn't care what somewhere else in the house.

Amber had just recently started eating solids; Ginny hand stocked the cabinets with little jars of baby food. James chose one of those and a little plastic covered spoon and begin to feed Amber. He didn't particularly like feeding her this way and Ginny had to get on his case about it all the time. It was just so much easier to feed her from a bottle anywhere in the house then to always come to the kitchen and Ginny wouldn't let him move the highchair through the house.

The stuff in the jar looked rather nasty in James's opinion and he didn't understand how anyone could eat something that looked so unappetizing.

As Amber was making a mess out of what was currently in her mouth James ate a spoonful of her baby food. The stuff was as nasty as it looked and James had to get up to spit it out in the sink.

"Did you just taste that?" a voice asked from the kitchen door. James spun around to see Harry.

"Um…maybe," he admitted embarrassed.

Harry laughed, "I did that once when you started to eat solids," Harry confided.

"Really?"

"Yeah, it's not a mistake you make twice."

James rolled his eyes, "Thanks, as if I couldn't figure that one out on my own, dad."

"Daadaa," Amber said from her highchair.

Both Harry and James turned to look at her. "What?" James asked.

"Daadaa," she repeated.

"Did she just talk?" James asked Harry, not wanting to believe his ears.

Harry was beaming, "I think she did."

A smile, equally as big as Harry's, spread across James's face. "Say it again Amber," he encouraged.

Amber smiled in return, loving the attention, "daadaa." Both Harry and James let out a yell of excitement and congratulated her on her first word.

"What's going on?" Ginny and Albus had been brought into the kitchen by all the shouting.

"Amber just said her first word!" Both Harry and James yelled at the same time.

"Really?" Al asked, "Let's hear it, say it again Amber," he encouraged.

"Daadaa," she said. This time Albus joined in with Harry and James as they cheered.

"Technically she's just trying out her consents sounds, she's not actually talking," Ginny stated, making the three cheering men stop and stare at her.

"No, no," James scolded her. "This counts, she said dad and your technical shit isn't going to change that. Say it again, Amber, and prove your Gran wrong, come on."

"Daadaa."

Ginny sighed when the men started yelling again, she knew that they were probably three repeats of the word away from jumping up in down like little girls. "Fine James you win, she said dad."

James did a very unmanly squeal, picked Amber up from her highchair, and started dancing around with her, singing, "My baby can talk, my baby can talk, my baby can talk!"

Ginny rolled her eyes as the other two joined in with their own versions of the song. "You're going to spoil her James," Ginny said playfully.

"No I'm not," James called taking a break from the song but still dancing around the kitchen with giggling Amber, "you can't spoil a baby."

**A/N: Review please.**


	9. First Birthday

**A/N: Lily is in her seventh year during this chapter and is at home for Easter break, just so you know. Sorry it took me so long to update this week, I hope next week will be better.**

Amber was walking, there was no other way to explain the anxiety that James felt. And not only was she walking, she was climbing and crawling and sliding on any available surface.

She was trying to figure out the best way to use her little feet and often fell down or beamed her head on something. In instances such as these she would tear up and her chubby face would pout…for half a second before she would think of better things to do and get right back up and walking again.

And as if her walking wasn't enough her first birthday was fast approaching, or more accurately James had had her for a year, the exact date of her birth wasn't known so they had decided to celebrate it on the day she arrived through the Potters window.

It was hard for James to believe that a year had passed but it had, just looking at Amber was proof enough. She had grown to where she resembled a person; albeit, a fat, small person, but a person none the less.

On the morning of her birthday Harry, Albus, Lily, and James were innocently sitting at the kitchen table, eating their breakfast when they heard angry footsteps coming down the hall.

Ginny stormed in holding a half dressed Amber.

"Look at this!" Ginny cried holding the giggling Amber in front of Harry, who was just trying to read his paper in peace. "I blame you for this!"

Harry was thoroughly confused now, "Well honey," he said slowly, thinking that she was having some kind of breakdown, "we've had Amber for a year now, I thought you were use to her. And shouldn't you be blaming James? It's his baby."

Ginny rolled her eyes, "Not Amber in general, I mean her hair! She has Potter hair, how am I supposed to get her ready in time for the party! I can't do anything with this mess and it's your fault."

"It's not my fault; I inherited it from my dad!" Harry tried to defend himself.

"I know and if he were alive I'd give him a piece of my mind about this ridiculous hair!"

Albus rolled his eyes, "Mum, it will probably straighten out when it gets longer."

Ginny sighed, knowing he was right, "But I need to fix it for her birthday! I can't have it…," she struggled to find the right word, "everywhere like this."

James knew that he should probably join in in his mum's distress but he couldn't care less what texture Amber's hair was, as long as it wasn't red anymore. And it wasn't, Amber's hair had darkened to an almost inaudible red. James figured that it would be black by the time she was two.

Molly had insisted that Amber's first birthday party be held at the Burrow. She and Ginny had planned the whole thing and James was glad for that; if it had been up to him he wouldn't have done anything, it wasn't like Amber would remember this birthday anyway.

But as James had learned over the years, the Weasley's took any excuse to get together as a family. So around two o'clock they left with Amber to get to the burrow. The whole family was there and Amber was passed around a lot. Having gotten use to everyone in the family by now Amber wasn't overwhelmed with so many people like the first time she had meet everyone.

Presents were given, Amber got a lot of toys, a knitted cap and scarf form Molly-which James couldn't understand, as it was May, but knew better from his own previous birthdays not to say anything-and James and Ginny were in a disagreement about the toy broom James had gotten for Amber.

"James, she can't play with that!" Ginny scolded, indicating the offending toy broom. Amber's eyes had shined when she had opened the gift, exclaiming, "broom," with a big smile on her face. James had been very glad that she liked it and couldn't see why Ginny was raining on his parade. "Of course she can! It says ages 1-5 on the box. I checked," he pointed out.

"What is she falls off and gets hurt?" Ginny challenged.

"She won't fall off; the thing barely goes two feet of the ground! Besides, she's a Potter!" James pointed out and the discussion was ended for the moment.

Amber had also gotten into the cake that Molly had made while everyone's backs were turned and she was coated in frosting. James suspected that Freddie had helped her with that because James had left her highchair a good three feet from the cake. Then a piece hit him in the back of the head and when he had turned around she was right in front of the cake, using her little hands to dig in and Freddie was acting a little too innocent. Though Freddie wouldn't admit to anything.

Harry ended up playing with Amber as the day ended and when Ron jokingly asked, "What's the best thing about being a granddad?"

Harry had chuckled and said, "Easy, the best thing about it is that you can play with your grand kids all you want and when they get fussy you can hand them off to their parents." And as if to illustrate his point Amber, who was getting tired from her eventful day, started crying, "James," Harry called holding Amber up with a smirk on his face.

Sighing James left his place in a conversation Al, Freddie, and Louis and walked to get Amber. "Thanks dad," he said sarcastically.

He had to take Amber home shortly after that but everyone else stayed at the Burrow. As much as he wanted to stay too Amber was getting even fussier as the night wore on and she needed to be put to bed. And to be honest the day had wore James out as well.

James went up to the room he still shared with Amber with every intention of putting her to bed in her crib and maybe watching some television downstairs for a while. But that plan had backfired when he had started to fall asleep with her on his own bed. He laid there with already sleeping Amber, too tired to get up and walk the three feet to her crib and fighting his drooping eyelids, "Happy birthday Amber," he whispered before he fell asleep also.

**A/N: Review please.**


	10. All Kinds of Love

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed for the last chapter, you guys rock. I like this chapter and I hope you do too, there is another flashback in the middle of it. Enjoy!**

**Oh, and Amber is like one/two-ish in this chapter.**

The phrase "I love you" was used a lot in the Potter house. Whether it was Harry saying it to Ginny, one of the three Potter siblings saying it to their parents, the parents saying it to their children, or the siblings saying it each other. The reasons it was used so often varied also, though the main reason that it was used among the siblings was as a reminder which said, "even though I just made your breakfast blow up in your face and laughed when your eggs landed in your hair, I do love you."

But growing up with two war veterans made James think that the excessive use of the phrase was to make sure that if anything did happen _nothing_ would go unsaid.

So it wasn't that surprising that this would be the first sentence Amber would say, though it did come to a surprise to James. He had heard her say many words but she had never put them together into a meaning. She would say "bottle" for "I want my bottle" and shrugged with the word to say "where is my bottle" and he was usually able to distinguish what message she was trying to convey through her limited vocabulary and little expressions like this.

But after his mum and dad left for a night together and Ginny had kissed her son and granddaughter calling, "I love you both," as she left, James was not expecting the first words out of Amber's mouth to be, "I wuv ooo dada."

James looked at where she sat on the floor, playing with dolls.

"What did you say?" he asked her.

"I wuv ooo," she repeated with a giggle.

James got down on the floor and knelt down to eye level with her. "Say it again," he commanded.

"I wuv ooo dada," she repeated one more time, this time stretching her arms out to him, wanting to be held now.

James obliged but did not get up from the floor, instead he sat Amber on his lap and stared at her as she begin playing with her dolls again, bored with James's lack of praise for her accomplishments.

James was having an inner battle with himself. On the one hand, Amber more than likely didn't understand the words she had just used, just that her family says it a lot and she wanted to be included, he could ignore it.

But on the other hand, Amber had said she loved him and he himself had never even said that to her. He remembered the first person he had said it too that wasn't family.

_"Go out with me," James demanded as he walked into Teddy's Transfiguration classroom._

_The group of girls that Charlotte was talking too giggled as Charlotte turned red. _

_"No James now leave me alone."_

_"Please!" he begged. Freddie, who was standing behind James during this embarrassing display, dropped his face in his palm at James's pathetic attempt._

_"James Potter I wouldn't go out with you even if you were the last man on Earth," Charlotte stated, hopping that it got through his thick head this time._

_James rolled his eyes, "There has to some circumstanse in which you would go out with me."_

_"When pigs fly James," Charlotte scoffed._

_Teddy-or Professor Lupin-walked into the classroom at this time and caught what Charlotte had said to his god brother, and couldn't help but butt in._

_"When pigs fly Miss Lucas?_ _Teddy inquired. "Do you mean it?"_

_Charlotte snorted, "I wouldn't have said it if I didn't mean it."_

_"Good," Teddy smiled. "Everyone should put away your textbooks. Today's lesson is going to be held outside. Bring your wands and follow me."_

_Teddy walked out of the classroom with the seventh years following behind. He led them to a spot in the grounds of Hogwarts where they could make out a small fence. Upon getting closer James saw that it was in fact a pen full of small pigs._

_A smile spread across his face and he turned to Teddy, "I love you Teddy," he said._

_"That's slightly inappropriate when I'm suppose to be your professor but I love you too Jamesie."_

_The assignment was to transfigure wings on a pig. It was one of the most difficult assignments they had ever been given. Charlotte had refused to even try and the only people who had made any progress were Freddie-who really wanted James to get that date so he wouldn't be so pathetic anymore-and James-who was determined to make that pig fly for obvious reasons. About thirty seconds before the bell rang James managed to give the pig wings and was throwing it into the air to make it fly. It didn't, though Teddy had to take it to Hagrid at the end of class because he was sure that it had broken its leg while falling back to the ground. _

_Charlotte walked up to an exhausted James after everyone else had left for lunch. "Please Charlotte," he gasped. "I gave the thing wings! That has to count for something." _

_"Sorry James, the pig didn't fly."_

_James actually collapsed to the ground when she said this. "You mean I spent all that effort to give the thing wings, and threw it into the air, probably breaking its leg, for nothing!" _

_Charlotte shook her head sadly, "Why would you try so hard?" she asked him, truly curious._

_"I'd think it'd be obvious by now," James panted._

_"Just to get a date with me?" Charlotte asked, bewildered. "You've been trying for years, with no success. Why don't you give up? Why must you bother me so?" _

_"Because I love you Charlotte," James pointed out._

_Charlotte gaped at him for a moment and then shook her head. "No," she argued, "you don't! You are infatuated with me because I don't like your pranks and you're…" she searched for the right word, "childishness like everyone else does."_

_James looked offended, "I prefer the term 'boyish charm' to childishness. And I don't use those words unless I mean them."_

_"You told _Professor Lupin _that you loved him in the beginning of class!" Charlotte accused._

_"Teddy's my god brother, I've known him my whole life. I love you Charlotte and there is nothing you can do about it."_

But _no one _who wasn't related to him had ever said it to him. Though Amber was related to him the words still had a heavy impact on James.

He had known from the beginning that he wouldn't be a good dad but he had been all Amber had and his parents wouldn't let him give her up even if he had wanted to. But if it had been an option, would he have given her away? He didn't really want to think about that.

He could feel that tears burning in his eyes as Amber said _again_ and _again _the new phrase that she had learned just a moment ago, "I wuv ooo, I wuv ooo, dada." Reminding him that she was there and would always be there, punishing him for not being the dad she deserved, tormenting him, feeling him with anguish and regret for not doing his duty as her father.

He thanked Merlin that there was no one to see the tears fall.

Amber noticed her dads silence and she turned in his lap to look at him, she put her little hand on his cheek and said the first thing that came to her mind, "I wuv ooo dada."

"I love you too Amber," he said, he could feel in his heart that he spoke the truth to her now and would make sure that she heard it as much as he did growing up. "I love you, Amber."

**A/N: I liked making Freddie do a face palm and yeah I made Charlotte's maiden name Lucas, so what, maybe her mom was a Pride and Prejudice fan. And I realize that you can't transfigure wings on a pigs so don't point it out. Review please. **


	11. Of Charlotte and Unwelcome Surprises

**A/N: Too short, I know, but I like this one. Also, I'm going to be aging Amber a year in each chapter so as to get to the parts with Charlotte faster, but don't worry I won't be rushing anything, nothing major will be missed but if you have some ideas I'd love to hear them.**

**Disclaimer: James and the rest of the Potter and Weasley's are not mine but Charlotte and Amber are and there is nothing you can do about it!**

Amber was at the stage in her life where she wanted to do everything herself. She wanted to dress herself and feed herself and brush her own hair. Most parents called this stage 'the terrible twos' but James didn't see why, he was more than happy to let her do her own thing.

A lot of Amber's personality had been made clear to James in the past two years and he knew that she would want to do everything herself anyway and not because that was a stage she was in. She was just that kind of girl; he loved that about her and hoped that that didn't change when she grew up. She was also an attention seeker and loved being outdoors. And one of the best traits about her in his opinion was that she now had black hair.

Now that her hair wasn't red, but a dark black like his, James was able to look at Amber without thinking about the circumstances in which he received her. Because when he did it always led to him thinking about Charlotte which led him to compare Amber to Charlotte. Which really wasn't fair since they were so different.

Now he looked at his little girl and he saw just that. His little girl, not some kid he had gotten as a product of a stupid mistake fueled by resentment and loneliness. Instead he saw one of the best things in his life, his daughter. And even though he was a horrible, selfish, impatient, and young parent he loved her more than anything and wanted to make her happy.

In fact James hadn't thought about Charlotte in a long time, it wasn't that he didn't love her anymore; it was just easier when he didn't allow himself to think of her.

James was sitting at the table one Saturday morning, he had tried to feed Amber but she had insisted on doing it herself ("Me do it!") and was getting more on her face than in her mouth. He let her and was trying to read the paper before Harry woke up and claimed it.

That was when he saw the birth announcement. The picture attached to the announcement showed a smiling family of three, a man, his wife and their new born baby. Normally James never even glanced at this section of the paper and the only reason that he noticed the announcement at all was because the woman holding the baby in her arms was Charlotte.

He stared at her in the picture for a moment; she was as beautiful as he remembered her, though not as young. James couldn't help noticing that she had filled out more since he had seen her last, which made her look more like a woman than a girl. And her face had lost its childish roundness. Even with these differences he knew that it was Charlotte. He would never not be able to know. She looked happy as she smiled and cooed at the little baby in her arms, James assumed from the blue blanket it was wrapped in that it was a boy. Her eyes-which were still a mixture of green and light brown-shined with all the love and anxiety of a new parent.

He didn't even glance at the man in the picture-he wouldn't think of him as Charlotte's husband-the guy was nothing but an embodiment of what James should have.

He folded the paper, not able to look at the happy little family any longer.

The pain that had lain dormant inside of his heart, that he had struggled to repress for so long knowing all the while that it would never go away, had resurfaced with just one glance at a picture. It was irrational to feel this way, he knew that, it wasn't like he and Charlotte had any history as a couple, or even as friends for that matter.

He sneaked another glance at the picture of Charlotte; torturing himself with images of her standing beside of him and beaming at their baby. Imagining what it would be like to have a home and a life with her and then knowing that that would never happen.

The pain must have shown on his face as he thought of the impossibility of his fantasies because even Amber noticed.

"Daddy, what's wrong?" he heard her ask.

James shook his head, closing the paper one more time and placing it on the counter behind him, so as not to be tempted to look at it again.

"Nothing sweetheart," he assured her, smiling sadly when he saw the mess she had made of herself. Try as he might he couldn't get the image of Charlotte with that man and their baby out of his head.

He could feel and unjust hatred toward the man who married Charlotte. All the while feeling guilty for his hate because he knew that it wasn't fair. For all he knew Charlotte could be very happy with that guy. In fact it was very likely that she was happy, they had had a baby together after all. James wanted Charlotte to be happy.

"You love me don't you" he asked Amber. In an irrational need to know that someone loved _him_, and needed _him_, even if it wasn't the person he wanted, it was something.

"Yes," she said positively. "I love you lots, Daddy!"

And since her hair was black and not the offending red James was able to smile at her and say, "And I love you lots, Amber, I always will."

Because the main difference between Amber and Charlotte was that Amber loved him.

**A/N: Review please!**


	12. New Rooms

**A/N: You people confuse me, first you beg for some news from Charlotte and then when I give you some you review telling me how much you hate her? I understand that there are some mixed feelings here and I hope they will be resolved by the time the story is over. **

**Any way, thanks to everyone who did review, even if it was just to say how much you hated Charlotte, but really guys, you can't blame her for doing what she thought would make her happy. Or I can't at least, but maybe that's because I know how the story ends. Enjoy!**

Nights were the hardest for James. They were when he was able to rest enough to think and that was never a good thing. He thought of Charlotte a lot at night-pinned for her really-and when he did it was harder in the morning to pretend like he'd had a perfect night.

Although, tonight was different. Lily had moved out almost immediately after she finished Hogwarts and it wasn't long before Albus followed. So now with all this extra room in the house Amber's little bed had been moved into Lily's old bedroom.

He was proud that she had taken the news so well when Ginny had suggested it. Even though she was three she was excited to be getting her own room, she called it an adventure, though she couldn't say it right so it sounded more like, "adbenture."

And at the time he was excited too, after three years of sharing his room with a loud and messy baby-who took up most of the room with her toys, clothes, and bed-he was finally getting his room back.

But after he and Harry had moved all of her things to her new room James was struck by how bare his room looked. He knew that this was the way it had been before Amber had come along and taken over his life and his space. But that was only the beginning of the changes he would feel that day.

After they had gotten everything into Amber's new room she looked so happy. She immediately began to decorate her room by retrieving all of the pictures that she had drawn over that last few years, pictures that James had littered the walls of his room with, and pinned them on her walls. James had let her, thinking that he could put the Quidditch posters that he use to have on his walls back up. But the empty walls made the room look even more empty and James didn't put his posters back up, preferring to steal one of Amber's drawings (which he thought was of him and her riding broomsticks, but it could have been two dogs) and hang it up.

When he had tucked her into her new bed in her newly decorated bedroom she was exhausted, she had a little night light that cast flying broomsticks on the walls and she watched them as she drifted to sleep before he even finished the story he was reading to her. He had contemplated sleeping on the floor, dreading going back to his empty room which now looked like no one had lived in it for years without all of Amber's things strewn everywhere. But he knew that she would want to do her adventure alone. So, keeping that in mind, James went back to his room.

It was just across the hall but the walk seemed unbearably long. He didn't turn on the light as he got ready for bed, thinking that if he didn't see the empty room he could pretend that Amber was still there. But the fact that he didn't step on a toy was a dead giveaway.

He left the door open for the first time since he was seven, just in case.

Try as he might James couldn't get to sleep without the familiar steady breathing of Amber a few feet away from him. He missed hearing her little snore and the rustle of her bed sheets as she tossed during the night.

Why did Ginny have to suggest such a thing! Amber was three for Gods sake; she wasn't ready to make such a drastic change in her life! Well, _he_ wasn't, but it was the same thing!

James kicked out in his frustration with himself. It wasn't fair; he had wanted Amber to grow up so that he wouldn't have to constantly take care of her. But now that it was happening he didn't want it to. What had gotten into him? Since when was he so divided on an issue? Kids grow up and there was nothing he could do about Amber getting older.

Why did this make him feel worse, it was supposed to comfort him! He wasn't the first parent whose kids had out grown them. That happened to everyone eventually, but why did it have to happen with Amber so quickly? Was this the beginning of a fast transaction into her adolescent years? He hoped it wasn't that fast, he didn't know what he'd do when she went to Hogwarts or brought her first boyfriend home.

He started to hyperventilate at the very thought.

He sat up in his bed and tried to make himself calm down. She was only three; it would be eight more years before she left him for Hogwarts and if she ever brought a boy home to meet him he knew exactly what he'd do. He'd take the boy aside and tell him, while fingering his wand, that he didn't mind going to Azkaban.

Laying back down James heard one of the best sounds that he had ever heard. Rain followed closely by thunder. He could even see a flash of lightning through the window. He smiled to himself; Amber was always restless during a thunderstorm. It was only a matter of time now.

There was another lightning flash, more thunder and the rain pounded loudly on the roof. James noticed a shadow standing in the doorway. He eagerly sat up again, "Did the storm scare you?" he asked Amber, who stood illuminated in the doorway. Her eyes were wide in fright and she clutched a small stuffed unicorn to her chest. "No," she denied.

James smirked, "Then why are you up?"

"Because," she stated for an answer. James had learnt a while ago not to ask, "because why," which would just confuse her and lead to another, "because."

"Well," James said slowly, pretending to think about it, "if you wanted to sleep in your old room tonight then I don't see anything wrong with it."

As soon as she got the invitation Amber made a beeline across the now clean floor and climbed awkwardly up onto James' bed, with help from James of course. She snuggled up against his chest. "Daddy, will it be OK if I come to sleep with you if I get scared?" she asked, looking up at him with her big hazel eyes.

James couldn't help but smile. "I think that would be alright," he allowed, "now go to sleep, Amber."

Amber obediently lay her head on James' pillow and shut her eyes, "'Night, daddy," she whispered with her eyes still closed. "I love you."

"I love you too Amber," James said, lying down beside her. He knew that eventually Amber would grow up and need him less and less until she didn't need him anymore but he would have to be content with the time he got and enjoy it until then.

**A/N: I had to put that part with Amber's "because" answer in there cuz my little sister use to do that to me all the time when she was that age and it annoyed me to no end!**

**Review Please.**


	13. A Tongue to the Face

**A/N: Sorry that it took so long for me to update, I just got this great book called _Graceling _and with reading it and homework I haven't had that much time to write. **

It was wedding season for the Weasley's, the time of summer were the children who were at Hogwarts-which there were none at the moment, but habits were hard to break-would be able to come and not miss school, but it wasn't so early that people would have to break plans to attend. On this day Al was marrying Flora Longbottom. The wedding season at the Weasley's was always a fun time, though the last wedding when Rose had married Scorpius Malfoy was a little awkward for all that were involved but as the alcohol started pouring everyone had loosened up enough to act civil and even enjoy themselves.

This wedding was a lot less tense as the Longbottoms and the Potters had no past grievances with each other. James had been chosen as one of the groomsmen along with Scorpius Malfoy. Flora-who was blond like her mother, eliminating all redhead/Potter jokes that would have been directed at Albus-was a very sweet girl that Al had known since they were kids.

The wedding had run smoothly leading to James's favorite part of any wedding; the reception. James loved the reception of weddings because it was the part of the wedding where all the tense traditional shit was over and everyone was relaxed and enjoyed being together as a new-extremely larger-family. Plus the adults always drunk more than they should and it was nice to have blackmail for later. In fact, James was still holding onto a picture from Rosie's wedding where Harry, Ron, and Draco were doing drunken karaoke. None of them remembered it and James the rest of the family were waiting for the opportune moment to unearth that memory.

At the moment things were just starting so nothing interesting was happening. Amber-who had been the flower girl in the ceremony-was running around playing with Romulus Lupin covering the dress that Flora had given her for the ceremony with dirt and grass stains. James had never expected her to keep it clean for long.

He noticed the blond woman while the food was being served. She was sitting with a group of people that worked with Flora. Unfortunately, Freddie had noticed James noticing her.

"She's cute," he commented, nodding toward the blond.

James nodded.

"You should go and talk to her," Freddie stated.

"No."

"Why not?"

"She's eating," was James's excuse.

"So what until after she eats; you can ask her to dance."

"I don't think so."

"Why not?" Lily, who was sitting at their table and had over heard their conversation, could not help but to give her two cents. "You haven't dated since Amber came around," she pointed out, "It'll be good for you to try and get a date; shake off the rust."

James glared at her, "There is no rust and I don't remember asking for your input in this conversation."

"Well, I gave it anyway because you needed it. You can't avoid trying to start a relationship forever."

Freddie nodded his agreement. "She's right," he said, "though she could have said it with less words," he looked at Lily when he spoke next. "Starting a relationship, Lily? You couldn't have just said dating? It would have seen a whole lot easier not to yawn if you had just put it simply."

"Excuse me for trying to use a better vocabulary!"

And they were off; bickering amongst themselves. James tuned in and out and caught words like "not helping" and "nosy." Apparently Lily had said something that Freddie couldn't think of a good comeback for because there was silence and then he said, "Stick's and stone's can break my bones but words will never hurt me," in a very childish manner.

"I never really understood that saying," James mused, stupidly drawing the attention back on himself. "I mean," he went on when he had their attention. "I would rather have a tongue thrown in my face than a rock. A rock would hurt like hell but a tongue would only be wet and squishy."

There was silence after he said this. Lily looked at her older brother like he was an idiot and Freddie actually considered James's words.

"Be that as it may," Lily said, trying to redirect the conversation. "She's done eating now, you should ask her to dance."

"I already told yo-" but he didn't get to finish because Freddie pushed him from his chair while Lily chanted, "ask her, ask her, ask her." James knew he had lost this argument.

He walked over to the blonde's table, looking back once with a pleading expression but Lily and Freddie only looked on encouragingly.

He knew that they were right and there was no reason he shouldn't ask her to dance, but he was rusty, no matter how much he denied it.

"Excuse me," he said to the blond when he reached her table, "I'm James Potter."

She smiled, no doubt recognizing his name as the Quidditch star he was. "Emily Stevens," she introduced herself.

"Would you like to dance?" he suggested. Emily eagerly accepted. They danced and talked and James was starting to think that maybe this hadn't been such a bad idea; Emily seemed like a nice enough girl. Though that all changed after about half way through the reception.

He and Emily were sitting at a table talking when Amber ran up to him. "Daddy!" she yelled jumping in his lap and throwing her arms around her neck. "Teddy's taking Lita, Leslie, and Rom to the orchard, can I go too?" she pleaded.

"Sure, sure," James agreed.

Amber kissed his cheek and ran in the direction of the orchard where James could see Teddy and the others waiting for her.

He turned back to Emily who looked stunned. "What?" he asked, very confused by the look if shock on her face.

"You have a daughter?" she asked.

"Yes," he confirmed.

"When where you going to tell me this?"

"I didn't realize I had to tell you my life story when we were just dancing at a wedding."

"But what if we started to date?" she asked. "Would I have gotten to meet her before our first date?"

"Hell no!" James yelled and Emily looked offended. "Amber's four; I can't introduce every woman I date to her. Can you imagine how confusing that would be to her?"

"I just wish you would have told me that you were a dad," she said.

James just shrugged, "What would it have mattered?"

"Listen James," Emily said. "I'm not looking for anything difficult. I just wanted a good time."

"I'm something difficult?" Instead of answering Emily just walked away. Lily and Freddie ambushed James as soon as Emily was gone. "Where you guys watching?" James asked suspiciously.

"We were keeping an eye on you," Freddie said.

"You did well James," Lily complimented.

"Well?" James scoffed. "She ran away!"

Lily snorted, "It doesn't matter she was just the practice girl. Now that you've gotten through that you'll be able to date again."

"I doubt that, you saw the way she ran away when she found out about Amber. Apparently guys aren't the only people who don't like to date a person with a kid."

"James," Freddie shook his head. "A girl would have to be crazy not to like Amber. And if she can't handle you being a dad then you shouldn't be with her anyway."

"Freddie's right," Lily agreed.

"I won't have time to date," James argued. "I can't go out and leave Amber alone."

"She won't be alone," Freddie disagreed. "One of us will watch her."

"James," Lily said solemnly. "If you can find girls to date I will gladly volunteer Freddie to watch Amber."

"What!" Freddie yelled while James laughed.

**A/N: I got the sticks and stones part from a conversation I had with my brother he was the one who said that he would rather have a tongue to the face than a rock and I promised that I would give him credit. Review please.**


	14. New Home

**A/N: Ok, I don't have much to say about this chapter so I'll just thank everyone who reviewed and ask you to enjoy.**

Lily had moved out of the family home when she finished Hogwarts and Albus had left when he had gotten married. It was James' turn; he couldn't help but think that the Potter children had gone backwards.

But that didn't change the fact that James was now twenty-four and Amber was five. It was time, James knew, to get their own home, as their own little family. He wouldn't have been able to do it before now because of his lack of knowledge about taking care of children, he had needed his parents help with that. But now he had raised Amber for five years, he knew her personality and what she needed to make her happy and healthy. He didn't need Harry and Ginny's help as much.

It took him some time to find the perfect house. One that both he and his parents were happy with because Ginny didn't want them being too far away just in case he or Amber needed her for something.

Now it was time to sell Amber on this idea. This proved more difficult then James had anticipated.

"Amber," James came to her one day while she was playing in the backyard. She had dirt on her face and Ginny had pulled her messy black hair into plaited pigtails, which the Potter hair rebelled against and stuck out despite the tight braids.

"I have an adventure for us." James had thought long and hard about the best way to bring moving out up to her and this seemed like the only way.

Amber was immediately excited at the prospect of an adventure. "What is it daddy?" she asked eagerly.

James bent down to her eye level. "Do you remember when Aunt Lily moved out and went to live in her flat and when Uncle Al moved out and went to live with Aunt Flora?"

Amber nodded. "Yeah I remember. Are they apart of the adventure too?"

"No," James chuckled, "But I was thinking that we could get a place of our own like they did."

"'Kay."

James was a little thrown by her easy acceptance and decided that maybe she didn't understand. "That would mean that we wouldn't be living with Gran and Grandpa anymore." he elaborated.

This brought her down. "Oh," she mumbled, looking at her feet. "I don't think I like that."

"I know that it's a big change but you might like it," he suggested.

Amber didn't respond and continued to stare dejectedly at her dirty and play worn tennis shoes.

James thought for a moment. "How about I show you the house that we would live in and then you can decide."

"'Kay," Amber said reluctantly.

Taking her small hand in his James walked Amber to the front yard and down the sidewalk.

"Why can't we live with Gran and Grandpa anymore," Amber asked gloomily as they walked.

"Because we can't live with them forever."

"Don't they want us?"

"Of course they do," James tried his best to explain it to her, "but we've lived with them for a long time now and it's time we get a place of our own."

"But I won't get to play with them and Gran and Grandpa won't be able to say good night to me, we won't be seeing them in the morning when we wake up and I won't get to eat Gran's pancakes on the weekends anymore. I won't get to sleep in Aunt Lily's old room and Gran won't be able to fix my hair." Amber pouted.

James stopped when they had walked a ways and bent down to her level. "Amber, we need to have our own place, and Gran and Grandpa need to have their own place. Most kids and their parents don't live with their grandparents. Romulus, Lita, and Leslie don't live with Bill and Fleur do they?" James used the only example that he knew Amber would accept as she loved Rom like a brother and looked up to the Lupin twins. It was a tactic that Harry use to use with James when he was young; if Harry said that Teddy did something then James would do exactly what Teddy did.

"Besides," he continued as she thought this over. "You'll still see Gran and Grandpa everyday; we only live two houses away from them." James turned her head to their new home; the one they stood in front of at this moment. It was a little much for just the two of them, being two stories high. Amber looked behind her to her Grandparents house which had been her home for so long and then looked back at her new one.

"Oh," she said as she look back and forth, gaging the distance. "Kay, I'll try this adventure."

**A/N: Review please!**


	15. Are You My Mummy?

**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews. Would you guys care if I skipped a few years in Amber's childhood, like, she's six now so would anyone care if she's eight or nine in the next one? Please let me know cuz that way I can get to the parts with Charlotte quicker. Plus-as you can see from the last few chapters-the stuff I have to write about her can barley make a chapter an acceptable length. So if I skip a few years the chapters might get longer. Review and tell me what you think. **

**And also, I think there has been some confusion about my OC's, so to clear that up for the people who didn't read my first story: Romulus (a.k.a Rom) is Teddy and Victorie's son and he has two older sisters (who are twins) named Lita and Leslie. Lita and Rom are metomorphmagus('s?) and Leslie is one-sixteenth Veela. Lita and Leslie are four years older than Amber and Rom is about a year younger. Um... I think that's all the OC's that I've mentioned in this story. **

"Daddy, why don't I have a Mummy?" a six year old Amber asked one night while James was tucking her into bed.

This caught him by surprise, and he stood up and looked at her for a moment before he asked. "What brought this about?"

Amber shrugged, "You have a Mummy and so does Rom and Gran. Why don't I have a Mummy too?"

James sat at the edge of her bed, thinking of the best way to explain this to her. "There are different types of families," he said slowly, making it up as he went. " Some are like Rom's and they have a mummy and daddy and kids and some are like ours and they only have one parent and a kid and some kids don't even have parents."

This seemed to boggle Amber's mind, "That's horrible! Why don't some kids have parents?"

James shrugged, "There are a lot of different reasons. Your Grandpa and Teddy grew up without any parents because their mum and dad died when they were young."

"Oh," she mused, thinking this information over. "So did my Mummy die like Grandpa and Teddy's mummy's did?" she asked. James was tempted to say yes and get this conversation over with but he knew if he did it would bite him on the ass later in life.

"No, your Mummy's not dead, as far as I know," he grumbled this last bit and wished that she would drop it but that wasn't Amber's style. Why did he have to get a curious daughter, he didn't remember being this curious when he was a kid?

"So why isn't she here with us?" she wondered.

"Well, because…" he struggled for an answer that she would accept but that didn't have all the details of his one night stand with the woman who gave him Amber. "Families are made up of people who love each other."

"Doesn't my mommy love me?" she pouted.

Oh, he should have seen that coming. "It's just that I loved you so much that you didn't need a Mummy."

Amber beamed and James sighed in relief.

"Really?" she asked and James was glad that she had accepted that. He was worried that she wouldn't be gullible enough to accept his quickly thought of answer and call him out with a, "that's a load of shit daddy!"

But luckily she was six and accepted any excuse he gave her. Though he knew that one day she would know that this wasn't the reason she didn't have a mum and call him out on it; he'd have to hope that that wouldn't happen for a long time.

"Really," James agreed quickly.

"But does that mean that Gran and Grandpa don't love you enough?" She inquired.

Shit, there were too many holes in the simple answer he had given her. James thought fast. "Well, Gran and Grandpa had more than one kid so they needed more than one parent," he said, mentally patting himself on the back for his quick answer.

Amber seemed to think this over. "Oh, that makes sense. So if you had more kids then I would have a mummy?"

"Sure." James agreed, not seeing where this was going.

"Then how would you have more kids?" she asked

Holy shit, He was not expecting that! He decided to go with the obvious answer. "Magic." he stated.

"Magic?"

"Yes magic," James nodded, willing her to accept this.

"So you could magic up some more kids and I could have a brother or sister?" she asked eagerly.

Bloody Hell! Why couldn't she just go to sleep? It seemed to James like he was just digging a hole deeper and deeper for himself. "I'm not going to magic more kids," he said, hoping to end this uncomfortable conversation.

"Why not?" Amber asked with a hurt look on her face. "Don't you like kids?"

"I do…" he said slowly. "But I don't need anymore. I have you."

She thought this over and seemed to find-as she seemed to be doing a lot tonight-a loophole in his answer. "But what if you got married?" she asked. "Then would you have more kids?"

James sighed, "At the moment I don't see that happening."

"But it could someday." she said optimistically. "You go on dates sometimes; I know you do, what if you meet someone that you want to marry, then would you have more kids?"

"Why are you so interested in me having more kids all of a sudden?" he asked, truly curious.

Amber shrugged. "I just think it would be nice to have a brother or sister that I could always play with. Like Rom does.

James supposed that this was an acceptable answer. Only children usually wanted a sibling. "If I find someone who I want to marry I'll let you know," he told her.

Luckily Amber accepted that and went to sleep. James knew that one day she would think over this conversation and realize that he had made parts of it up and demand to know what really happened to her mum but James hoped that she was old enough by then to realize that her dad was a stupid teenager who had made a mistake but that he could never regret what he'd done.

**A/N: Remember what we talked about in the beginning of the chapter and review.**


	16. Cake Innuendos

**A/N: So I don't really know where this chapter came from. It started off as something TOTALLY different and it evolved into this random thing and I had no control over. So just think of this as a filler cuz Charlotte will make her first reappearance in the next chapter (lucky for you I already have that chapter written so all I have to do before I put it up tomorrow is tweak it a bit.) Enjoy the randomness of this chapter! **

James' teammates were throwing James a farewell party because he was leaving the Montrose Magpies. James was now twenty eight and after ten years of being on the team and being hit in the head with one to many bludgers, he had decided to retire from Quidditch.

He didn't have to work ever again with all the money he had earned in his ten year career as a chaser but James couldn't see himself sitting at home for the rest of his life so he applied for-and got-a job at the Ministry. All his job really consisted of was organizing-what else-Quidditch games.

So the Magpies were giving him a farewell party which was held in the Quidditch stadium that the team practiced in. There was a large banner with "We'll miss you James!" written across it. Some food had even been scourged and even a cake, though James highly doubted that this was a gesture from the guys on the team and instead suspected that the food was the work of Sarah Austin, the wife of one of James' friends and teammate, Adam Austin.

When James first joined the team he didn't care that much for Adam Austin because he was James' age and already married. Adam would never stay out to celebrate with the rest of the team because he had a wife to get home to. James thought that this was completely idiotic but then he got Amber and Adam was one of the few of his teammates that understood why James couldn't stay after games any longer. By then Adam had a kid of his own on the way, Ethan. Who was a few months younger than Amber so on those rare occasions that Ginny couldn't watch Amber during a practice or a game and James would have to bring Amber with him, Adam would floo Sarah and ask her to bring Ethan over so Amber wouldn't be lonely. And Sarah was always happy to do so, she loved Amber.

Sarah was considered the 'team mother' even though she wasn't anyone on the teams mum. She was just the kind of person who loved to make sure everyone was happy and she was constantly on the move. Every time James had ever been to the Austin home Sarah was cooking, cleaning, gardening, or playing with their son, Ethan. Not that Adam was the kind of husband who made Sarah do all of this, he would help her if she'd let him. Sarah and Adam were the perfect couple and anyone could see that they were deeply in love, which was probably why Adam's teammates flirted constantly with her. They knew that she was so in love with Adam that she would never do anything with them, other than play along for a while until Adam got annoyed and then laugh at the absurdity of it.

James particularly liked to tease his friend by flirting with his wife.

James was eating some of the wonderful cake that Sarah had made for the occasion and was sitting at a table with Adam and Sarah and various other teammates and their girlfriends. He could see Amber out of the corner of his eyes, playing Quidditch with Ethan Austin and some of the younger members of the team.

"Mmmm," one of the men, Eric, moaned loudly as he took a large bite of Sarah's cake. "This cake is delicious Sarah. Adam's lucky to have such good cake at his disposal."

And so another round of flirting with Sarah Austin began. Apparently this round was centered on cake innuendos.

"I know what you mean Eric," said another man. "What I wouldn't do to have cake like Sarah's at my disposal all the time."

Sarah laughed along with the rest at the table and Adam said. "Well, I guess I am luckier than any of you. I'm surprised I'm not fat with all the cake of Sarah's I get."

There was more laughter. "Sarah," Eric said, looking at the laughing Sarah. "If ever your husband doesn't appreciate your delusions cake then you can take your cake and come live with me and I'll show you how a real man appreciates cake

There was a series of childish, 'oohs,' that followed this comment before Adam cut in. "That's it Eric, no more cake for you." Adam reached across the table and took away Eric's plate of cake. There was uproarious laughter at this action.

"Sarah," Eric whined. "You're not going to let him take your cake away from me are you?"

Sarah laughed. "He's my husband and he can do what he chooses with my cake." Sarah pointed out and there was more laughter at this, fueled by the fact that Adam had began eating the cake he had taken away from Eric.

"Forget it Eric," James suggested, deciding that it was time to get in on this round of flirting with Sarah Austin before it was won. "Having her cake won't do you any good because we've already decided that if Adam doesn't appreciate the scrumptious cake he gets then it goes to me."

"And what makes you think that?" Adam asked.

"Because it's my party," James answered, "therefore she made this wonderfully tempting cake for me." The whole table laughed at this and continued to do so when James continued. "That would make this," James reached and grabbed Adam's plate of cake, "Mine." he finished by taking a huge bite of what had previously been Adam's cake. The table erupted in laughter and James had won his final round of flirting with Sarah Austin.

After everyone had finished the cake and most of the people gathered was either playing Quidditch of just standing in groups chatting James decided to help Sarah clean up.

"Sorry about the cake innuendos," he said to her, picking up a plastic plate off of the table and throwing it into a trash bag.

Sarah just laughed, "James if I didn't know how to handle the jokes that these guys throw at me then I would have been sick of Adam's job a long time ago."

James smiled at this, Sarah was always so good at being around the teammates when they were acting rowdy, it was one of the reason's he liked her so much.

"Was there a particular reason you wanted to help me clean up?" she asked. "Not that I mind your help, but you usually talk or play Quidditch after we have these get together's."

James shrugged, "I guess I just have a case of the goodbyes. I feel like I won't be seeing much of you lot anymore."

"James Potter," Sarah scolded. "I swear if you leave and don't at least write us I'll find you and beat you to an inch of you life."

James laughed though with Sarah it was hard to tell if the threat was real or not. "I will," he promised. "I just wanted to say my goodbyes in case things aren't as great with you and Adam and I after I leave."

"Fine, I'll listen to your goodbyes, but don't expect me to return them. I don't think that this will be goodbye. You're just leaving the team." James had already said his goodbyes to Adam, who hadn't taken them seriously either.

"OK, so, here it goes. I know I give you a lot of crap all the time, Sarah, but your one of the best women I know and I'm glad that I got to know you. I love you like a sister Sarah and I hope I'll see you and Adam after I leave." James might flirt with Sarah continuously but what he said was true. He loved her like a sister and he had never actually entertained the notion of liking her more than that. She was too perfect with Adam; they were a packaged deal in James' mind.

"Of course you will James. Ethan would miss Amber so much if he never saw the two of you again and I would too. Besides, I expect she'll be over a lot in the future."

James didn't know what to make of that statement so he didn't say anything. He was more grateful for Sarah than he could say, Amber simply adored her.

"So," Sarah went on, doing as she said and not taking the goodbyes seriously. "You love me like your sister?"

"Oh, no!" James said, quickly grabbing onto the chance at forgetting that this was a goodbye. "Not my sister! My sister is scary. I love you like someone else's sister," he joked. "You know like my best mate's sister. That way I can't date you but if something happened to that mate then I would be there in a heart beat to comfort you with out feeling awkward. Because your a damn good cook and with my best mate gone you wouldn't have anyone to tell you how awesome your food is. Therefore I would be doing everyone a favor."

"Did you just conspire to get rid of my husband?" She asked with a smile.

James took a big bite of leftover cake and moaned, "Mmmm, so moist. If you keep seducing me with your tempting cake then I wouldn't have to entertain such scandalous thoughts. Adam!" He turned to yell over his shoulder at Adam. "Your wife is seducing me with her moist cake!"

"You better keep your hands off of my wife's cake!"

**A/N: Just to make this clear under no circumstances will James get together with Sarah, there's only one reason I even mentioned her, Adam, and Ethan. Review please.**


	17. Quidditch Cups Are Dangerous Part 1

**A/N: Charlotte! I'll give the notes at the end. Enjoy!**

James was not a master at fixing hair, in fact, he sucked at it. But so did Amber so she was stuck with her dad's mess of a ponytail through her whole childhood and this day wasn't any different.

"Oww, dad your pulling my hair!" she whined as James tried to brush her unruly Potter hair into a ponytail.

"I'm trying, Amber, bare with me for a moment." he begged. Sticking his tongue between his teeth in concentration he twisted the hair bow into place. "There," he sighed it wasn't perfect but it was done. "Now go play."

Amber felt her head to make sure that her hair was actually up right, "Thanks dad," she said as she gave him a kiss on the cheek, she ran away to find her cousins to play with when James called, "Don't go too far," she waved over her shoulder to acknowledge that she had heard but James knew she wouldn't listen, Amber loved to adventure and this was the best place to do so.

They were at the World Cup, James' job had given him free tickets for the occasion and he was glad that he didn't have to work, there were tents full of fans everywhere, no doubt the suckers that had to work would have a hard time trying to keep everyone quiet and away from muggle attention. It was hard not to get caught up in the excitement

He and Amber were sharing a tent with Teddy, Victoire, Romulus, Lita and Leslie and various members of his family had tents around theirs. Lily and her husband had a tent with Harry, Ginny, Al, and Flora. Other family members that were at the cup were Ron and his family-which now included Scorpius Malfoy ever since he and Rose got married. George and his family, Bill's family-which included Tyler Wood and Dominique's children and whatever girl Louis had with him. Percy had also been bullied into taking his family and Charlie had even come.

James walked out of his tent, having been instructed by Fleur to fetch water for her to cook with. She had assumed the position as head cook since Molly wasn't there and the others were very content to let her do the cooking for the big group.

James spotted the oldest children of the family playing in a big field which would, no doubt, house more tents later. Among them were Amber, Lita, Leslie, Rom, and Dominique's two oldest-Gavin and Blake. The other children weren't old enough to be out of their parent's sight yet.

James had made his way through the maze of tents and had just gotten a pail of water from the nearest water spout and hadn't taken three steps back in the direction of his tent when a small boy ran into him, making James drop the pail, thoroughly soaking the boy through and getting James' shirt wet in the process.

He looked down at the boy, who couldn't have been older than nine; he had short brown hair and brown eyes. "I'm so sorry sir," he apologized, "I wasn't watching where I was going, I shouldn't have been running." James could tell that the kid was babbling because he thought that James would get him into trouble, which made James laugh. The boy stopped talking, wondering if the man he had ran into was insane.

"It's alright, kid," James assured him. "It's just water, no harm, no foul."

The kid looked like he couldn't believe his luck. "You mean it? You're not going to tell my mum? She told me not to run. She said that if I did I would fall or…run into someone." the boy grimaced, clearly not liking that his mum had been right to tell him not to run.

James laughed again, "Kid I don't even know your mum, so if you don't tell her I won't."

The boy beamed, until, "Isaac I told you not to run!" A voice shouted at them. James instinctively cringed away from the voice, which sounded exactly like one that had yelled at him a thousand times before.

"Sorry kid," he whispered to the boy, whose hopeful expression had disappeared. "Looks like you got busted anyway."

James looked up to assure the kid's mum that it wasn't a big deal, he had been yelled at enough times by his own mother that he was able to sympathize with the kid. But when he saw the woman coming toward them his words got caught in his throat. She had long red hair, and eyes that were a mixture or green and light brown. "Sophie said you were running and now look what you've done," she scolded the boy. "You're all wet, and you got this man wet."

The woman-who hadn't given James much more then a glance-finally looked up at James; "I'm so sorry si-" she stopped short, apprising him. "James?" she asked.

James gulped and tried to smile, "Charlotte," he greeted. He had no idea what to say to her, this had never happened to him before; he always had something to say!

Charlotte stood and kept one hand on the wet boy whose name James now knew was Isaac. "I'm sorry about Isaac, he never listens to me." she apologized.

James waved off her apology. "It's like I told your kid, its just water, there's more over there," to illustrate his point James nodded to the water spout behind him.

"Well," Charlotte pursed her lips, "he still shouldn't have been running."

James shrugged, "Kids run."

Charlotte looked at him for a moment and then sighed, "Your not going to let me find a reason to punish him are you?" she asked.

James smiled. "What can I say Charlotte, I sympathize with the kid, I know what it's like to be yelled at by you."

Isaac, who couldn't believe his luck, beamed at James. "Thanks mate," he said.

Charlotte gave him a disapproving look at his lack of respect for an adult but said nothing. Just then a little red haired girl turned the corner and ran to Charlotte's other side. "You found him mum, didn't I tell you he was running?" she asked. Isaac turned to her and stuck his tongue out.

Charlotte looked just as uncomfortable as James felt. "Um, these are my kids, Isaac, who you already know, and Sophie."

James hadn't known that there were two of them but he decided not to think about at and just get away as quickly as possible. "It's nice to meet both of you," he said. "I'm James Potter."

Isaac's eyes got huge. "_The _James Potter, the chaser for the Montrose Magpies?"

James laughed, "You like Qudditch, do you? Well, yes I'm that James Potter but I'm a retired chaser now."

"Still!" Isaac yelled.

"Who?" Sophie asked. Isaac looked at her like she had offended him but before he could launch into a description she looked up to Charlotte, "How do you know this man, mum?" she demanded.

"I went to school with him," Charlotte said.

Isaac looked like he was about to hyperventilate at the thought that his mum had went to school with James Potter and never told him!

James didn't think that this could be more awkward but he had been wrong before.

"Dad!" Amber ran up to him, not even noticing the three people in front of James or her dad's uncomfortable expression. "Where have you been? Uncle George is going to start fireworks as soon as it's dark enough and Fleur is freaking out about not having her water yet!"

"I thought George wasn't going to set off fireworks until after the game tomorrow?"

Amber rolled her eyes, "Its Uncle George, he probably brought enough for a show every night."

James noticed Charlotte staring curiously at Amber so he spun her around to face the audience to their conversation. "Amber this is an old friend of mine, Charlotte and her kids Isaac and Sophie. This is my daughter, Amber. She's 10."

Amber rolled her eyes and looked up at her dad. "I'm 11, dad, and telling people I'm 10 won't stop me from going to Hogwarts on September 1st."

James covered her mouth with his hand. "It helps me," he told her.

She gave him a look and removed his hand, "It's nice to meet you," she said. And then her eyes lit up as inspiration hit, "Would you like to come back to our tent and watch the fireworks?" she asked. "My great uncle George owns Weasley Wizard Wheezes so you know his fireworks are going to be the best!"

This was something that even siblings as different as Isaac and Sophie could understand. "Please mum, can we!" they begged Charlotte, who looked very uncomfortable.

"I don't know…we have to, um…eat dinner."

James nodded, needing to get away and think and not wanting Charlotte there when he did this but Amber didn't miss a beat before she piped, "You can eat with us!"

"I can see that you're a lot like your dad," Charlotte muttered. She looked at James pleadingly, but so did her children, and James was a sucker for kids who just wanted to have fun. He sighed, not liking his answer but having no control to stop it. "You might as well, Charlotte, it'll be fun."

The children took that as a yes, "Awesome!" Amber beamed, "We'll be able to have a bigger game of tag now with two more players! Why are you wet dad?" She finally noticed that her dad was soaked. James picked up the pail of water that he had dropped and, noticing that there was still some water, dumped the rest on Amber's head. "Same reason you are."

Amber squealed and ran off with Isaac and Sophie following.

"James," Charlotte warned, "I don't think that this is a good idea."

"What do you mean? " James pretended to not know what she was talking about as he refilled the pail with water. "Do you have somewhere else you need to be?"

"No," she admitted, "I just don't want to intrude."

James chuckled uneasily. "It's no intrusion, Charlotte, you were invited."

"By an eleven year old," she reminded him.

James took a moment to think about that and looked at her after the pail was full, "Look Charlotte, if you don't want to go then don't, no one's forcing you."

"But what about Isaac and Sophie?" she asked.

James shrugged, "Let them play, there are plenty of adults there to keep an eye on them, and I don't just mean myself and my uncle but a bunch a Weasley's. Your children are in good hands. Or," he said noticing her reluctance, "Tell them to come back to their tent with you. It's really up to you, but if you decide to come there will be plenty to eat and a lot of people to talk to."

"Maybe I'll just check it out," she hedged.

"Awesome," James quoted Amber.

**A/N: First off, don't hate Charlotte's kids just because you all have mixed fillings about their mom. Secondly, Don't ask me about Lily's husband. I know who he is and I want to write a story about them in the future but I still have a few kinks to work out about their relationship and I don't want to say something about him in here that I will go and change in that story. Also, since James had a kid at a really young age everyone else (like Rose and Albus and whoever) are just now having kids or have toddlers. The only reason Victorie and Dominique have kids that are Amber's age or a little younger are because they're the oldest Weasley grandkids. You all probably got this on your own but I just wanted to point that out.**

**Review please!**


	18. Quidditch Cups Are Dangerous Part 2

**A/N: Wow, longest chapter yet, 2,314 words, not including the authors note. I was going to put this up earlier today but my mom decided that we were going shopping so it's a little later than I would like it to be but at least it's up.**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed. Enjoy!**

When they got back to the tent most everyone had moved outside to enjoy the nice weather. Rose immediately spotted Charlotte, whom she knew from Hogwarts, and engaged her in conversation. James was glad; he had run out of things to say to Charlotte after convincing her to come. Which he still couldn't figure out why he'd done.

He hadn't thought about her for years and he didn't know how he felt about her now. He knew that he wasn't angry at her for marrying that other man but he didn't know if the fact that he hadn't thought of her meant that he wasn't in love with her anymore or that he had just decided that pinning was a waste of time.

He quickly gave Fleur the water and ducked back out of the tent so as to avoid being yelled at for taking so long.

"Dude why are you wet?" Freddie asked when he spotted James.

James sighed, "It's a long story, mate."

"I bet," Freddie snorted, "I noticed Charlotte over there with Rosie and two new kids wondering about and I don't think that us Weasley's are that fast at procreating so I'm assuming those two are hers. So I'm guessing that you ran into Charlotte and she somehow got invited here." Freddie was always too good at guessing.

"Amber invited them," James said so that there could be no confusion or teasing from Freddie, "You're very observant today," he noted.

Freddie shrugged, "You know, the Cup's tomorrow and I want to see everything."

Charlotte sauntered over then since Rose went to help Hermione with something.

"So," she started looking at James and taking a deep breath, "are you going to feel me in on what everyone has been up to since Hogwarts? I feel like I've not seem any of them in ages."

"Sure," James agreed quickly, grabbing the given conversation starter and running with it. He wasn't use to awkward silences unless he was the one that made them. "You remember Freddie, right." He nodded to Freddie at his right.

Charlotte rolled her eyes, "How could I forget? It's nice to see you again, Freddie," Charlotte stated, shaking Freddie's hand.

"I know you don't mean that but I'll take it anyway," he said playfully. "I can see that you've been busy since Hogwarts," Freddie nodded toward Sophie and Isaac who were playing with the rest of the kids.

Charlotte opened her mouth to retort but James shoved Freddie away, knowing that more statements like that were going to follow.

"Anyway, he helps his dad and Uncle Ron out at the shop," James indicated Freddie, who was laughing on his way to talk to Hugo. "Hugo plays Quidditch for the Chudley Cannons; Al married Flora Longbottom and he works in the Department of Mysteries. They have one kid and are expecting another. Lily teaches Potions at Hogwarts and she's married. She's pregnant with their first kid. Rose married Scorpius Malfoy, and they have two kids, we think she's pregnant again but she won't confirm anything, and they do something at the ministry."

Charlotte looked at him doubtfully, "You don't even know what they do?"

James shrugged, "I've asked them to explain it before but I lose interest during most five minute explanations of a job."

Charlotte laughed, "Then how would you explain what you do?"

"I organize Quidditch games at the ministry."

"Your right, that is easier to listen too. But what about the rest of your cousins?"

James snorted, "You can't expect me to keep up with all of their jobs, there are so many of them."

Charlotte laughed at this but then realized who had made her laugh and stopped.

At that moment Isaac ran up to James and Charlotte, eliminating the awkward silence that James could feel coming on.

"James!" Isaac yelled as Charlotte sighed at her son's impoliteness. "Is that Hugo Weasley of the Chudley Cannons?" Isaac asked excitedly, looking in the direction of Hugo.

James smiled. "Yeah it is," James confirmed, "He's my cousin, you can go and talk to him if you want."

Isaac looked like he wanted nothing more, but hesitated. "I don't think I should," he said slowly. "He might not want to be bothered," James noticed Isaac glance in Charlotte's direction, waiting for her OK.

She sighed, "You might as well you haven't listened to me all day, why start now? Besides, I don't think Hugo will mind."

Isaac smiled, "I can't believe you're related to Hugo Weasley!" He said to James before he ran to where Hugo was to introduce himself.

Rose ended up coming back shortly after Isaac's intrusion and claimed all of Charlotte's attention so James made his way back over to Freddie. Who, James saw as he got closer, was now talking to a very familiar and very welcome couple.

"Adam, Sarah, it's great to see you" James greeted his friends warmly. "I didn't know you were coming."

"We wanted to surprise you and Amber," Sarah smiled. "At first we were worried we wouldn't be able to find you but the tent that was bursting at the seams with mostly red haired people was a dead give away."

"Yeah," Adam agreed. "And even if it wasn't you guys we were going to eat their food and pretend like we knew them anyway."

James could just imagine Adam, Sarah and Ethan walking into some random tent and acting like they knew everyone just for the hell of it.

"Where's Ethan?" he asked. "Amber will be glad to see him."

Sarah waved him off. "He found Amber as soon as we got here but you were too busy looking uncomfortable with that red head over there to notice."

"Who is she anyway?" Adam asked, looking closely at Charlotte, who was still talking to Rose. "She doesn't look like a Weasley redhead."

James was about to assure Adam that she wasn't a Weasley and then redirect the conversation to a un-Charlotte related topic but Freddie jumped in before James was able to do this.

"You don't know?" Freddie asked in a scandalized tone.

Sarah, sensing a good story, immediately took the bait, "Know what?" she asked.

"That's Charlotte." Freddie said as though this explained everything.

"Charlotte was an old friend of mine at Hogwarts," James said quickly, knowing which direction Freddie would take the conversation if he was allowed to continue.

Freddie snorted. "If you're going to tell the story then tell it right!" He scolded James before turning back to Sarah and Adam. "James was in love with Charlotte back in Hogwarts, and probably still is," Freddie muttered this last bit which told Sarah and Adam that he thought it was true.

"Freddie!" James yelled.

"Why didn't we ever hear about her?" Adam asked James at the same time that Sarah asked Freddie, "What happened?"

Freddie seemed to answer both their questions when he said, "She married someone else"

"No!" Sarah said shocked, playing the perfect audience.

"Yes," Freddie confirmed.

"Freddie!" James yelled again. "I was in love with her," he confirmed, feeling the need to set the record straight. "And she did marry someone else but I haven't seen or thought about her in a long time. We just happened to bump into each other today and Amber invited them back here."

"Does Amber know that you were-or are-in love with Charlotte?" Adam asked.

"Merlin no," James said.

"Yeah," Freddie agreed, "if James told Amber that he was in love with Charlotte then he'd have to tell her that Charlotte getting married was the reason Amber was born."

Adam and Sarah gasped and James yelled, "Freddie!" another time. "Amber doesn't know and there is no need for her to know."

"Oh," Adam said, "Then you probably wouldn't want Amber talking to Charlotte, would you?"

"That's not on the top of my list of good things, why do you ask?"

"Because Amber's over there with Rose and Charlotte," Adam pointed out, nodding in the direction that Rose and Charlotte were in. This time when James looked he saw that Amber was with them, talking to Charlotte who was smiling as something the younger had said.

"Holy shit!" James panicked. "Why is she doing that?"

Sarah rolled her eyes, "It's not that big of a deal James. Amber talks to everyone and she loves meeting new people. You should have known that she would have a conversation with Charlotte sometime today."

"Yes but I thought that she'd be so caught up playing with her cousin's and Ethan and Charlotte's kids that she wouldn't get around to it!" James worried.

"The woman has kids too?" Adam asked, totally not seeing why James was upset. "Boy James, you know how to pick them."

"Not now Adam! Can't you see that I have a crisis" James yelled.

"Clam down James," Sarah said, placing a comforting in hand on James' tense shoulder. "If it matters that much to you I'll go over there and get Amber away from Charlotte."

"How will you do that?" Freddie asked.

Sarah shrugged. "I'll just tell her that I need her help peeling potatoes or something like that."

"Yes do that," James said, pushing Sarah in the direction of Charlotte and Amber. He heard her mutter something that sounded like, "completely pointless," but she went anyway.

James, Freddie, and Adam watched anxiously as Sarah walked toward Charlotte, Amber, and Rose. Sarah started to say something but Rose unconsciously cut her off, she looked as though she were making introductions. Sarah shook hands with Charlotte who said something, the group laughed and Sarah said something else and they laughed again.

"Oh…My…God." James said in disbelief. "What the HELL is she doing? That's not part of the plan!"

"Hmm," Adam wondered. "Sarah doesn't normally get distracted like that. Don't worry mate," he said to James. "I'll fix everything."

Adam walked purposely after his wife. And after watching for a moment is was clear that he had suffered the same fate as Sarah had. Charlotte was apparently telling some hilarious story because they were all laughing.

"Why is this happening to me?" James asked no one in particular. "First Amber then Sarah and now Adam. I wonder what their saying that would draw in Adam and Sarah like that."

"If only I had a pair of Extendable Ears with me," Freddie cursed.

James took his eyes off of the disaster unfolding in front of his eyes to look at Freddie for a moment. "You do realize that we are thirty now, right?"

Freddie shook his head sadly at James. "You're never too old to eavesdrop on your cousin, your daughter, the woman you love, and two of your best mates with a fake ear attached to a fleshy cord," Freddie stated as if this were obvious.

James just shook his head but then he could hear the loud laughter which drew his attention back to the group.

"Lat me fix it," Freddie said.

"No Freddie," James grabbed his arm in a panic. "It's to dangerous, your all I have left."

"Don't worry," Freddie commanded extracting James' grip on his arm. "I've been on your side on this whole Charlotte thing since Hogwarts and that won't stop now."

With that Freddie walked to the growing group. James looked on hopefully as Freddie started talking to Adam, Sarah, and Amber but then Charlotte said something and Freddie got a look on his face that he got when he was retelling a funny story and James knew that all hope was lost.

James could hear the laughter from Freddie's story as he turned his back and sank down on one of the picnic tables that had been put up.

He must have been one sad sight because Ginny came and sat beside him, putting her arm around his hunched shoulders. "What's wrong love?" she asked.

"Amber is talking to Charlotte." he stated not expecting her to understand.

But she surprised him with an, "Oh," of understanding.

James rolled his eyes at her, "don't 'oh' like you know."

"Oh, I know."

"Oh! How do you know?"

"Your dad told me years ago," she explained. "And then Lily told me more about it when Amber was…delivered."

"Traitor's," James hissed. That was the last time her told anyone anything.

"If it makes you feel any better I think I can help with your situation," she offered.

"No mum," James panicked. "I've already sent Sarah, Adam, and Freddie over there to get Amber away and now look at them."

Ginny and James took a moment to look at the group who was laughing even harder as Freddie got more animated in his story; he was using his hands to gesture as he talked.

"Charlotte must have some kind of power that draws them there like moths to a flame. Laughing, smiling, traitorous moths."

"Don't worry," Ginny said, "I don't plan to go over there."

"Then how do you plan to save Amber?"

Ginny just smiled as she stood and yelled, "Dinner's ready!"

There was a mad dash from everyone around the tent to get to the food and the group dispersed.

"Thanks mum," James said as he got up to get his own food.

"It was no trouble at all," she smiled.

James knew that he had dodged a bullet but the day wasn't over yet, he still had the fireworks to get through.

**A/N: Review please.**


	19. Quidditch Cups Are Dangerous Part 3

**A/N: Holy crap. I'm so sorry that I haven't updated in a week but my laptop could not find a signal so I haven't had Internet since Sunday. I don't know if it will connect any next week when I get home but I will update again tomorrow since I'm at a place with Internet for the weekend. **

Dinner was as normal as a dinner with a bunch of Weasleys and their friends could be. The people were crowded around the tables that had been gathered and everyone was chatting loudly to one another. James sat with a sheepish looking Freddie and Adam and a completely un-sorry Sarah.

"I can't believe you people," James scolded them as they ate. "I ask you to do one thing-get Amber away-and what do you do? You stand there, chatting, like a bunch of idiots. I'm particularly disappointed in you Freddie."

Freddie ducked his head, knowing what was coming.

"What happened to 'I'm always on your side, James?' I'll tell you what happened; it was a pack of lies. LIES!"

"Can't I be on your side _and _tell the story of when we turned all of the headmaster's quills into fish?"

"No, you can't…not unless you wait until I'm there to help tell the story."

"You know," Adam spoke up, "I never got to hear the end of that story."

"Well," Freddie began. "After the headmaster found out that all the quills on his desk were fish he-"

"Now is not the time Freddie!" James yelled.

"I'll tell you later," Freddie whispered to Adam who nodded.

"What about you?" James asked, turning to Sarah, who hadn't said anything since they had sat at the table. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

Sarah slowly took a bit of her food as she deliberated what to say, James waited impatiently for her to finish. Though when she did he didn't like what she said. "I think that you are overreacting."

James opened his mouth to point out that not wanting Amber to talk to Charlotte was perfectly normal but she raised her hand to silence him. "I'm not saying that I don't understand why you don't want Amber talking to Charlotte. Because I do, I wouldn't want Ethan talking to any of my or Adam's ex's. But-from what I gather-you and Charlotte have never actually dated. Therefore there are no intimate details that Charlotte could divulge."

"Besides," she went on. "From the conversation I had with Charlotte she seems like a very nice woman. I'd invite her over for tea sometime if I didn't know you would freak out, James. Merlin knows I need some female friends," Sarah made a point to look around at the three men that she was sitting with.

James ducked his head, knowing that she was right but he also lapsed into a very convenient coughing fit that sounded a lot like 'dirty traitor.'

Sarah, who had had enough of James' childishness for the moment picked up her plate and went to sit with Charlotte, Rose, and Scorpius a few tables over.

Adam sighed, "Mate," he said to James. "I'm sorry that I got caught up in the conversation when I was supposed to be saving Amber, I am. But if I don't follow Sarah in her storm off then there will be dire consequences."

James sighed. "There must be special treatment for our married comrades," he agreed. "You can storm off, I won't take offense."

"Thanks mate, I knew you'd understand." With that Adam stood up and followed his wife.

Soon after everyone had eaten it was dark enough to shoot off fireworks. Freddie, George, Ron, and Roxanne went to shoot them off as the rest of the family-and the Austin's and Charlotte's family-stayed at the tent, waiting anxiously for the first burst of light.

After Freddie left to work on the fireworks James-who didn't want to be left alone-had to suck it up and join Adam and Sarah, who just happened to be with Charlotte.

James had done some thinking and Sarah was right, there wasn't any reason he should be avoiding Charlotte. They were both adults and she had made it abundantly clear eleven years ago that nothing would happen between them. So James decided that he would not think of her as the Charlotte he had fallen in love with but as just another woman. Beside, for all he knew she could be a completely different person. A part of him truly hoped that she was and another would mourn if she were.

"Why are our kids so much older than every one else's our age?" Adam wondered aloud as he watched Ethan and Isaac trying to find Amber and Sophie in the dark, neither knowing that the girls had followed Rom into the tent to swindle extra ice cream from Fleur.

"Because we had ours as horny teenagers?" James guessed, making Adam laugh while Sarah rolled her eyes.

"I wasn't a horny teenager when I had Ethan. Adam and I made the adult decision to start a family," Sarah told James.

"Really," James asked, doubt written across his face.

"Really," Sarah said.

"So you weren't nineteen when you had Ethan? Because I know Adam was."

"I was almost twenty." Sarah said as though that explained everything. "At least I wasn't barley nineteen like you when you got Amber. If I remember correctly you were eighteen when Amber was conceived and had just turned nineteen a few weeks before she was born."

"Really?" Charlotte asked, she had known that James had to have been pretty young when his daughter was born but she hadn't bothered to do the math and now she was curious.

Needless to say this was not a subject that James wanted to discuss with Charlotte, "What about you?" he asked her to get the heat off of himself. "How old were you when Isaac and Sophie were born."

Charlotte thought for a moment, "I was twenty two when I had Isaac and almost twenty four with Sophie. So I wasn't a horny teenager, twenty two and twenty three, that's adult-ish."

James laughed, "The key suffix there is: ish," he pointed out.

"Ignore James," Sarah commanded. "He's just jealous that he was the only one of us that didn't plan his kid."

James threw a panicked look at Sarah and she quickly put her hand over her mouth as though she could force the words back in. She looked, wide eyed, at James, trying to apologize for not thinking before she spoke with her eyes.

This was one of the many reasons why James didn't want Charlotte around.

"What did you say?" Charlotte asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.

"Nothing," Sarah said too quickly. "How old are your kids?"

Any idiot could tell that Sarah only asked this as a distraction and James wanted to choke her for her lose lips.

"Isaac is eight and Sophie will be seven in two months," Charlotte answered, glancing wearily from Sarah to James.

James could just hear the gears grinding in Charlotte's head and he, Adam, and Sarah waited anxiously for the questions they knew were coming. Charlotte opened her mouth to ask what James could only guess was the question that he didn't want to answer when there was a loud whistle and then a big bang which illuminated the whole field with light.

Bless Freddie's impeccable timing.

Amber and Sophie ran out of the tent at the sound of the explosion. Amber stood in front of James and looked up at the fireworks. James wrapped his arms around her, using her as a shield from Charlotte's curiosity. Charlotte wouldn't possibly ask such questions with Amber around. Would she?

Ethan and Isaac came from the field and looked disbelievingly at the girls.

"Where were you?" Ethan asked. "We looked all over the field!"

Amber looked at him with the most innocent expression that she could muster. "Oh," she said. "You were looking for us? Well, we've been in the tent this whole time, we thought you would come and eat ice cream with us but you never showed up."

Sophie, who clearly wasn't use to acting innocent in order to not get into trouble, giggled.

"You know perfectly well we were playing hide-and-go-seek," Ethan reminded Amber. "Hiding in the tent is off limits, and therefore, Isaac and I win."

"Actually," Amber said, "we weren't hiding in the tent. We were sitting in plan sight. Had you come and looked for us there, as you should have, then you would have found us easily. So we win."

Ethan looked like he was going to protest but Isaac cut him off, "Your logic is all screwy," he told Amber. "But I guess your right."

Just then more fireworks were set off, distracting the kids from Amber and Sophie's trickery.

James looked over at Charlotte who was sitting on the ground now, with Isaac and Sophie beside her. He would have mused at the way the light from fireworks illuminated her features, her hair, and her tired eyes, if it wasn't for the fact that James could practically see the wheels turning over the previous conversation in those eyes.

He turned back to the colorful sky silently fuming.

Charlotte had no right to be curious about what he had done after she had went and gotten married to some guy that he didn't even know if she was still married to or not. Not that it mattered, it wasn't any of James' business just liked Amber wasn't any of Charlotte's.

James kissed the top of Amber's head where the pony tail that he had spent so much time on that morning was falling out of the bow that tied it. She looked up and smiled at him.

After the fireworks Amber went right back into play mode despite the late hour. "What now?" she asked the other kids. Ethan and Isaac looked at each other as if to ask, 'there's more?' and Sophie was fighting to keep her eye lids open as she sat in her mother's lap.

"Amber it's pretty late," James said, trying to fight a smile at her hyperactive nature. "You have to get up early tomorrow morning if you want to watch the game. Besides, I think you've run your friends to death." He motioned to the exhausted Ethan, Isaac, and the now fast asleep Sophie.

Amber pouted up at her dad, "Your going to make me go to sleep aren't you?" she asked.

James smiled but I was Sarah who answered. "If he didn't then you never would."

"Just one more game of tag?" she begged. She looked pleadingly at Ethan and Isaac, "You two can handle one more can't you?"

"Fine," Ethan sighed, getting up to stand beside Amber. Isaac looked pleadingly at his mum. "Just one more?" he asked.

"One more," Charlotte sighed. "But as soon as you're done we have to go back to our tent." Isaac nodded and ran off into the dark field with Ethan and Amber.

Sarah yawned a big fake yawn and James glared at her, knowing what she was doing and not liking it. "Well," she said. "I believe were going to go say goodbye to everyone before Ethan is done. It was a pleasure meeting you Charlotte, see you tomorrow James. Come on Adam." She grabbed Adam's hand and they ran off faster than any tired person could.

Charlotte struggled to stand up with Sophie's added weight and James couldn't help but laugh. "Do you need any help?" he asked.

Charlotte smiled sheepishly, "If you could just grab her for a moment so I could get up I can hold her from there."

James bent down and lifted the sleeping Sophie as Charlotte stood up from the ground. She wasn't a heavy child, about the same size Amber was at that age.

"Thanks," Charlotte muttered as she held her arms out for her daughter. James put her back in her mother's arms but noticed how Charlotte seemed to sag under her weight.

"Are you sure you don't want me to hold her?" he asked, partly concerned for Charlotte's back and partly that she would drop Sophie.

"No, thank you," Charlotte grunted, "I've got her."

James turned away so Charlotte wouldn't see his smile and he watched the faint outline of Ethan, Isaac, and Amber running around the dark field.

Apparently, Charlotte was watching too. "She's a lot like you," she stated looking in the direction that James assumed Amber was in.

"Poor kid," James laughed.

"Did she inherit anything from her mum?" she asked, slyly trying to get information on how James had acquired a kid that was older than her own children since the last time they spoke.

James shrugged, "I wouldn't know," he mumbled.

"Pardon?"

"I said that Amber's mother didn't contribute much."

"Oh," Charlotte realized that she wasn't going to get anymore out of him on this subject and shifted Sophie's dead weight from one side to the other.

"What about Isaac and Sophie's dad?" he challenged. If she could ask then so could he. "I don't think I ever got his name, but why isn't he here with you three?" James knew that he would probably regret asking that as soon as the words left his mouth, what if the guy was dead?

"We got a divorce five years ago," she said looking fixedly at Isaac who as far as James could tell had just been tagged.

"Oh," he knew that was a stupid thing to ask. "I'm sorry."

"It was my idea," she stated, still not looking at James.

"Then I'm not sorry."

The game of tag ended soon after that because Isaac just couldn't go on. He staggered to his mum and clutched onto her side for support. Charlotte, who was already staggering under Sophie's weight, looked like she wouldn't be able to walk with Isaac clinging to her too.

"Are you sure you don't need my help?" James asked as Amber said a quick goodbye to Ethan, who had went to find his parents and came back to say goodbye to Isaac.

"I'll be fine," Charlotte assured him. "Our tent's not that far away."

"I hope I see you guys tomorrow at the game," Amber said sincerely. "I had a lot of fun today."

Charlotte laughed. "I'm sure Isaac and Sophie would share your sentiments completely if they were awake enough to hear you." Isaac gave a feeble nod and muttered something incoherent. "I'm glad I got to meet you Amber," Charlotte said.

Amber beamed up at Charlotte, "It was nice meeting you too."

"It was good too see you again James," Charlotte said.

James smiled, "You too, Charlotte."

And he wasn't lying, it was good to see her, it may have been a little awkward at times but at least it wasn't as painful as he had thought it would be. He remembered how he had reacted so may years ago when he had seen Isaac's birth announcement in the Prophet. If James would have had to guess he would have thought that seeing Charlotte with two kids would have been as painful as that.

But it wasn't, because her kids were just too great for James to feel any pain at their existence.

Charlotte went to her tent after they said their goodbyes. The next day during the game Amber looked all over for Isaac, Sophie, or Charlotte but she couldn't spot them anywhere in the crowd of people. James knew that Amber truly wanted to see her new friends again but he couldn't help the feeling of relief that washed over him. He had made it through his first encounter with Charlotte with minimal damage and he would never have to do that again.

**A/N: Now I have brought divorce into the wizarding world and therefore sadness and emo kids (no offence to my emo readers).**

**Review please!**


	20. Not This Again!

**A/N: This chapter isn't as long as my last three and it's kinda sad but it needed to be written. Charlotte isn't in this one but she'll be back in the next chapter.**

**Enjoy!**

"Are you all packed?" James asked Amber as she came down into the kitchen from her room. It was the last day of August and tomorrow James and Amber would be heading to Kings Cross Station for her first year at Hogwarts.

"Yes dad," she nodded.

"Are you sure you have everything?"

"Yes."

"Did you pack your textbooks, robes, parchment?"

"For the last time," Amber snapped. "I've already checked that I have _everything_ and double checked."

James sighed, he knew that he was being an annoying, over concerned parent but he couldn't help it. Amber had never stayed away from him for more than a few hours and now she was going to be gone until Christmas!

For her part Amber had been very patient with him but her patience only went so far.

"I'm just going to miss you," he admitted.

"I know dad," she went and hugged him as tight as she could. "I'll miss you too. But I'll write every day."

"No you won't," he corrected her, knowing that she'll be having too much fun to bother writing to her dad.

"I'll think about you," she argued.

"For the first two days," he snorted.

"I'll dump a bowl chocolate pudding in Teddy's chair for you."

James kissed the top of her head and smiled. "I know you will, love. So I guess you are all ready to go and leave me here all alone, aren't you?"

"Well actually," she mumbled sheepishly, letting go of him to sit on one of the bar stools that surrounded the island in the middle of the kitchen. "I wanted to ask you something."

"Shoot," James ordered.

"I've been wondering about it for a while," she babbled. "And I didn't know if I should ask you again. But I figured that since I'm about to go to Hogwarts that I'm old enough to know."

James looked at her for a moment. "You're avoiding the subject," he pointed out.

"Sorry," she sighed.

"Is it that bad?" he asked, wondering what she wanted to ask him that would make her act so unsure of herself.

"Yeah." she confirmed.

"Well, you know you can ask me anything, no matter how bad."

"OK, here it goes," she took a deep breath. "I want to know what really happened to my mum."

James was floored; he had not been expecting that again so soon. He had been banking on a few more years before she brought that up again. "Technically that wasn't a question," he pointed out to gain some time to think.

"Dad," she warned.

James sighed. She was right, she was old enough to know but she was still only eleven so he wouldn't tell her the whole gruesome story but he could tell her the basics, right?

"Well, I don't actually know what happened to her," he told Amber.

She frowned. "Why not?"

"Because I haven't seen her in over eleven year."

"I don't understand," she shook her head.

"OK," James sighed, resting his elbows on the island and standing across from where Amber sat. "I'm going to tell you the story about how I got you, but I want you wait until I'm done before you ask any questions, got it?"

Amber made the motion of zipping her lips and nodded for him to go on.

"I was eighteen and we had just won our first Quidditch cup in Ireland. Me and some teammates had gone out to celebrate," he edited out the fact that he went to drink away his sorrow. "I met your mother in a pub there and we got drunk and spent the night together."

"What did she look like?" Amber asked, eagerly.

"I thought we agreed that you would wait for the Q&A after I was through with the story," James reminded her.

"Please dad," Amber pleaded.

James sighed, "She had red hair," he told her.

Amber looked at him expectantly, "And?"

"And? I was drunk, how much do you expect me to remember?"

"Fine," she sighed, "please continue."

"I went home the next morning and then nine months later you got here."

Amber waited for him to go on and then frowned when he didn't. "That's it?"

"Yeah."

"So the last time you saw my mum was when I was born?" She asked.

"Actually I wasn't there when you were born," he told her. "I didn't even know I was having a kid until you got here."

"So the last time you saw her was when she brought me to you?" she asked.

"No…she didn't bring you here."

"Then how did I get from Ireland to you?" She asked.

"Well, you, um…were sent to me through the owl post."

Amber rolled her eyes, "Seriously, dad."

"I'm being serious. I was sitting in your grandparent's living room with Lily when four barn owls swooped through the window with a box that had holes punctured through it. There was a letter taped on the top and when I opened the box there you were. Ask Lily if you don't believe me."

Amber thought this over for a moment, "What did the letter say?" she asked.

James shook his head, he couldn't tell her that, "Trust me, you don't want to know."

"Dad," Amber whined. "You promised to tell me the whole story and that's part of it."

"You won't like it," he warned her.

"Tell me."

"It said: 'I don't want it. Good luck.'"

Amber looked at him for a moment in disbelief. "I don't want _it_?" She echoed.

James noticed the emphasis she put on the word _it _and decided not to tell her what his pet name for her had been when he had first gotten her. She sat on the stool for a moment just staring into space and James noticed that her eyes were getting misty and was worried that she would start to cry.

"Amber?" He asked tentatively. "Are you alright?"

Amber nodded her head quietly, still staring into space. Her face was starting to get blotchy and she bit her bottom lip. A tale-tell sign that she was holding back tears. "Amber?"

She let out a sob and hid her face in her hands.

James was startled; Amber wasn't a crier so this display was a sure sign that she was upset.

Stupid, stupid, stupid! He knew she was too young to hear that! Why did he let her talk him into telling her that her mum hadn't wanted her? What was wrong with him?

"I'm sorry," she sobbed even harder. "It's my fault, I shouldn't have asked."

"Amber," James went to sit in the stool beside hers. He rubbed circles on her back to try and sooth her. "Why are you apologizing? It's my fault, I shouldn't have told you about the letter so soon."

"It's not just that my own mum didn't want me!" She wailed. "You didn't either."

James looked at her for a moment, completely taken aback. "What makes you think that I didn't want you?"

She brought her tear stained face from her hands to roll her wet eyes at him. "I may be young dad but I can do math. You were only eight years older than me! You were still a kid too! There's no way you wanted me!" This was followed by more tears though this time she didn't hide her face, instead she looked at him for his reaction as she bit her lower lip harder as chin trembled uncontrollably.

"I'll admit that I didn't know what the hell I was doing," he told her. "Why do you think we lived with Gran and Grandpa for so long? It wasn't because I liked your Gran constantly getting on my case to clean my room and yours too. But that doesn't mean that I didn't want you," he reassured her. "You are my kid and there is no way that I wouldn't want you."

"Being her kid didn't stop my mum from not wanting me," she pointed out.

James took her face in his hand and with the other one wiped away the tears from her face. "I'm not going to begin to guess what was going through your mothers mind when she gave you up," he told her. "But what ever it was I'm thankful for it because you're the best thing that ever happened to me. And I mean that."

Amber threw her arms around his neck, catching him in a surprise hug. "Thank you."

"Why are you thanking me?" he asked, "I've upset you and made you cry. Where in that do I deserve thanks?"

"You kept me," she explained. "Thank you for that."

"There's no need to thank me for being your dad. I'll admit that it took some getting use too, but you're my daughter and I love you, Amber."

"I love you too dad."

**A/N: I realized while I was writing this that Amber hasn't cried since she was a baby in my story, where as, Victorie, in my other story, would cry at the drop of a hat. I guess Amber's just a pretty happy kid.**

**Anyway, review and tell me what you think!**


	21. Bored James and Dust Bunny Colonies

**A/N: My Internet still isn't working at my house so for now everyone will have to make due with weekend only updates cuz that's the only time I can get to a computer with Internet access.**

**Anyway, I'm not entirely happy with this chapter, I've had the worse case of writers block and this was all I could come up with all week. Thanks to everyone who reviewed for the last chapter. Enjoy. **

_Dear Dad,_

_Hogwarts is GREAT! The castle is so huge that I got lost on my way to my first class (luckily I had Transfiguration with Teddy so I didn't get into trouble). I wasn't lost alone though, Ethan was with me. We were both sorted into Gryffindor (YAY!)._

_I haven't seen the Quidditch Pitch yet, but I want to fly so badly. The rule that first years can't bring brooms is so stupid. As soon as I get into second year you can bet I'll carry my broom with me everywhere I go (just because I can). _

_Classes are alright, though I'd rather be outside. The other girls in my dormitory are fun and I think I made a friend of this one girl named Lauren. She agrees with me that first years should be allowed brooms and she can't wait to be able to try out for the Quidditch team too. _

_I miss you like crazy! And I can't wait to see you again; I'm counting the days 'till Christmas break. _

_Love,_

_Amber._

_P.S. I haven't got to put the pudding in Teddy's chair yet (since I was so late for his class) but now that I have an idea of where I'm going you can bet that I'll do it. _

_P.P.S. Please don't get too bored without me._

_XOXOXO_

Amber was gone…gone…gone. And James didn't know what to do. She had left on Thursday; Friday James had gone to work; but now it was Saturday and James had nothing to occupy his time. She had asked him not to be bored without her but he hadn't had alone time for eleven years, was it his fault that he had forgotten how to use it?

The fact that he missed her like mad didn't help either.

James was currently lying on the floor of his living room in front of his couch. He didn't know why. Maybe he had dropped something and bent down to fetch it and then hadn't gotten back up. He was blowing at a particularly large dust bunny and watching as it skittered across the wood floor.

He heard the crackle of a fire that he hadn't built and entertained the idea of getting up, just in case a thief, who would take all of his things as he lay on the floor playing with a puff of dust, was coming through the floo. But he didn't get up.

Let them take everything, at least tracking them down to get all of his stuff back would give him something to do.

"James," he heard a female voice say in disbelief. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Playing with a dust bunny," he replied. "I can't remember the last time I cleaned underneath this couch but the dust bunnies have built a colony in that time."

He felt a pair of hands grab under his armpits and try to lift him up. He obediently stood but didn't see why he should.

"Why are you here Lily?" he asked her as he stood.

"Amber asked me to check on you this weekend. She thought that having time to yourself wouldn't be good for you and now I know what she means. Look at you, lying on the floor playing with dust bunnies!"

"Amber sent you!" James perked up. "How is she doing? Is she alright? Couldn't you bring her with you?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "James you know I can't do that."

"What use are you then?" James asked.

Lily chose to ignore his comment, "James you need to get out and find something to do to get your mind off of Amber being gone," she instructed.

"Why?" James whined. "I want to stay here and play with the dust bunnies under my couch."

"James, stop sulking."

James gasped dramatically, "I. Am. Not. Sulking."

"Yes, you are, and you have no right to," she told him.

"No right to!" he said outraged. "My daughter is-"

"Growing up," Lily cut him off. "It happens, James, get use to it and move on."

"I'm allowed to sulk a little," James grumbled, crossing his arms and sitting roughly on the couch.

"No," Lily corrected him. "I'm allowed to sulk a little, I had a miscarriage last week, your kid just went to Hogwarts."

Damn her, playing the 'I lost my baby for real' angle. He couldn't top that. Lily had miscarried the baby that she had been carrying. Most of the family was sad over the lose but, ever strong, Lily was treating the fact that having a baby would be difficult for her as a challenge. She was already planning on trying for a new baby (not that they had tried for the first).

"Fine, you win," James reluctantly admitted. "But what am I suppose to do?"

"Well," Lily thought for a moment, "This is the perfect time for you to start dating more."

James groaned, that wasn't what he wanted to do at the moment.

"Oh, stop acting like I asked you to kill a puppy and get out!" Lily ordered.

James did leave after grabbing his jacket and grumbling his way out of the door but just to get away from Lily's nagging. He ended up in Diagon Alley; he wandered from store to store in a stupor, not knowing what else to do. Amber usually dictated what stores they go into.

This was stupid. He was a grown man; he shouldn't need the company of his child all the time. He could find things to do without Amber.

He could go visit Adam and Sarah. But when he thought about it he couldn't do that, it was always awkward to go to a married couple's house uninvited.

And Freddie was probably out with that woman he's been seeing…what's-her-face, James felt slightly guilty about not knowing her name, Freddie had been dating her for a while.

That was alright, he didn't need them. He could find something else to occupy his time.

"James?"

Who was he kidding; this was going to be horrible!

"James?"

No Amber to keep him company, what was he going to do?

"James!"

James jumped at the sound of a voice yelling his name. He looked around to see-of all people-Charlotte looking up, worriedly at him. "Are you alright?" she asked him.

"Yes," he lied, "why do you ask?"

She rolled her eyes at him. "I only said hello to you twice and called your name three times before you even knew I was here. You were standing there staring into space, completely lost in your own world."

James looked around for the first time, he was in a store that he didn't even remember going into, standing in front of a shelf full of broken quills.

"Nothings wrong…" he said slowly, searching for an excuse for his strange behavior. He decided to go with the truth. "It's just, Amber went to Hogwarts." he finished lamely.

To his surprise Charlotte seemed to know exactly what he was talking about. "Oh," she said as full comprehension dawned on her, "How long has she been gone?"

"She left Thursday," he said and he couldn't keep the sadness from seeping into his tone.

Charlotte shook her head sympathetically, "Is this the first time that she's been away from you?" she asked.

"Maybe," he said, shrugging like it was no big deal.

"The first time Isaac and Sophie went to stay at their dads I didn't know what else to do so I ended up passing the time by counting the tiles on my bathroom floor," she confided in him. James was surprised to hear this. So he wasn't the only parent whose life pretty much circled around their children? "And they were only gone for a day," Charlotte continued, "I can't imagine what it must be like for you."

He sighed and his shoulders slumped in defeat. "I don't know what to do now that she's gone"

"Come on James, we are leaving." Charlotte reached out and grabbed James's hand.

"Where are we going?" He asked, surprised as she dragged him out of the store.

"Coffee," was all she said.

**A/N: Some of you are probably asking, "what was the point of making Lily miscarry?" but I do have my reasons so please just go with it. The next chapter will be James' coffee with Charlotte.**

**Please review.**


	22. Coffee

**A/N: I have my Internet back! Let's hope that it lasts. **

**Anyway, here is James and Charlotte's coffee. I don't know what you all are expecting but this isn't the chapter where everything is worked out and they ride away together into the sunset (not that they will do sunset ridding anyway). Enjoy.**

Charlotte drug him-quiet literally-to a small café in muggle London.

"I still don't understand why we're here," James pointed out as they ordered their drinks and found a place to sit.

"Because," Charlotte explained. "You need something to get your mind off of Amber not being here."

"Coffee does that?" James asked stupidly.

"No. But at least it's better than standing in a store and staring into space."

James was going to point out that it was also better than playing with a dust bunny colony under his couch, but then he remembered that she didn't know about that and took a sip of his scorching hot coffee to keep his mouth shut. No use making himself look like a bigger loser than he already did.

"So where are Isaac and Sophie?" James asked.

"They're spending the day at my mums," Charlotte said, taking a sip of her own coffee. "I had some errands to run and they didn't want to come."

That was when James noticed the shopping bags that where sitting beside her chair, he probably would have noticed them while she was dragging him along if he hadn't been occupied on _why_ she was dragging him.

There was a moment of silence in which James sunk back into his hopeless boredom and then Charlotte, unexpectedly, asked, "Do you want a cookie?"

James looked at her like she was crazy for a moment, "Where did that come from?" he asked. He didn't see what a cookie had to do with anything they had discussed.

Charlotte shrugged, "When I'm depressed I like to eat sweets," she elaborated. "It's not the best method but when you have a soft, warm, cookie in your hand then things don't look so bad. You never know, it might cheer you up a bit."

James would have scoffed at her philosophy and told her that a cookie wasn't going to make him miss Amber any less, but damn it he wanted that cookie.

When he didn't say anything Charlotte went and ordered two giant chocolate chip cookies for the both of them.

"So," Charlotte began, "what shall we talk about?"

James shrugged and took a bite of his cookie-it was just as good as he imagined. "Well, there is the obvious."

"Which would be?" Charlotte asked.

"Your ex-husband, Amber's mum, and all the things that happened since we stepped off of the Hogwarts Express twelve years ago," James reminded her. And then, just because he couldn't help himself, he added, "Obviously."

Charlotte looked as though this was the last thing she wanted to discuss. She started to break off bits of her cookie and shove them into her mouth while staring fixedly at the table.

"So," James gathered from her expression, "we're just going to skid around those subjects?" As much as he wanted to know about her ex-husband and why they were no longer married James was glad that they were not going there. If they did then he would have to talk about Amber's mum too. He had done that once with Amber and he didn't want to do it again so soon.

"Yes," Charlotte sighed in relief, "and I congratulate you on your subtlety, James."

"I'm subtle," He defended himself.

"About as subtle as an elephant on a creaky floor," she muttered into her coffee cup.

James took another bite of his cookie and decided to ignore that comment.

"So since we've decided to avoid the sticky subjects why don't you tell me about Amber," Charlotte suggested.

"Well," James began. "She loves to be outside and Quidditch. She likes getting attention, but she isn't as attention seeking as I was at her age. It might not seem like it but she is very mature for her age. She can't fix her own hair and she could eat a horse and barley gain a pound. She loves her family and adores the Austins. She can be very patient when she wants to but she's a very curious child, always has been. She likes to do things on her own without anyone's help and she's always up for an adventure."

As he was talking James realized just how much he missed Amber.

"So you were wrong before," James continued. "Amber is not a bit like me."

"She's more like you than you think," Charlotte assured him. "I could tell when I met her that you have a great kid, James. She's very polite and has a lot of energy."

James snorted. "Tell me about it. She was up at dawn on the day she left for Hogwarts. She said that she was too excited to sleep, and she was still bouncing around by the time we actually got to Kings Cross."

Charlotte laughed, "I can imagine. Isaac is like that sometimes but I can barley get Sophie out of the house."

"She didn't seem like a lazy kid to me?" James inquired.

"She's not lazy," Charlotte corrected him, "She's just a home body. She likes to read," she said as though that explained everything.

"Ah, so she's like her mum?" James teased.

"Yes," Charlotte laughed. "So what house did Amber get sorted into?"

"Gryffindor, of course. She is a Potter after all," James reminded her.

"Your sister is a Potter and she was sorted into Slytherin," Charlotte pointed out.

"Lily is a special case," James stated. "I use to think that mum and dad had brought back the wrong baby."

Charlotte laughed at this, "Seriously?" She asked.

"Oh yeah, if she didn't look so much like mum then I'd be positive that they had switched babies with some Slytherin-y couple."

After they had finished their cookies and coffee Charlotte had to get back to her kids so they walked out of the coffee shop together.

"Thanks for the coffee Charlotte," James said, "I needed that." James turned to walk away but was called back by Charlotte.

"James?"

"Yes Charlotte?" He turned to look at her again.

"I was wondering if you would like to have dinner with me sometime?" she asked quickly.

James looked around to make sure that there was no one else around that she could be talking to. After assuring himself that she was talking to him James turned back to her. "Are you asking me out on a date?" he asked, not wanting to believe his ears.

Charlotte looked shocked, like she couldn't believe that her mouth had actually formed those words. Then she seemed to come to a conclusion and stood to her full height, a look of determination on her face. "Yes," she said.

"Seriously?" he asked and he could see the tiniest slump of her shoulders. "_You_ are asking _me _out? You do remember who I am don't you?"

"Do you want to go or not?" she asked.

"Hell yeah," James said before he actually thought about it. "How many chances am I going to have to go on a date with you?"

"Is next Friday good for you?" she asked, ignoring his previous question.

James rolled his eyes, she knew that he had nothing else to do, wasn't that why they had gotten coffee in the first place? "That's fine Charlotte."

James was slightly surprised when Charlotte actually smiled up at him. "I'll pick you up around seven," she said before turning and starting to walk away.

"Wait!" James called her back. "Don't you mean _I,_" he pointed at his chest, "Will pick _you_," he pointed at her, "up at seven?"

"No," was all she said. "I'll see you Friday."

**A/N: Please review.**


	23. A Date and Questions

**A/N: Holy crap, this chapter is longer than my usual length. I was thinking about making the first part a separate chapter but as you can see I didn't. I have the major notes at the end of the chapter so enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Since it's been forever since I have disclaimed to being J.K. I think it should remind everyone (not like you haven't figured it out by now) that I'm not her and I own nothing. **

The fact that James had a date on Friday with Charlotte didn't actually occur to him until the next morning. But by then it was too late to go back on his decision even if he wanted to. Truthfully he didn't know what to think. He hadn't thought of Charlotte in years, he had basically accepted the fact that she was a dream that was never going to come true and that it would be a waste to keep pining over her. Then she had shown up at the Quidditch cup, unmarried and with two kids and now she wanted a date with him. What was that about?

James couldn't see the point in her asking him on a date when she had rejected him for so long. Maybe accepting the invitation hadn't been the best action. Or maybe he was just reading too much into this. They were both adults now; they could have a dinner with out bringing their past feelings for each other into it, couldn't they? So James would go on this date because he had already said he would and let what ever happened happen. He wouldn't go expecting anything other than a meal.

After coming to this conclusion James was faced with another problem. Again, there was nothing to do! The house seemed eerily empty without Amber running around.

James tried to get his mind off of the empty house by staying productive. Although, he got halfway through demolishing the dust bunnies colony under his couch before the silence in the house got too much for him and he ended up turning on the stereo loud enough to block out the quiet.

It was no wonder with the music blasting that he didn't hear Freddie, Adam, and Sarah coming into his house. He didn't even realize there was anyone in the house until the stereo was turned off and the deafening silence rang in his ears.

"Why are you trying to bust your eardrums?" Sarah asked sternly, like she was talking to a rebellious teenager.

James shrugged, "It was quiet."

Adam immediately made himself comfortable in the living room while Freddie went into the kitchen to eat James out of house and home and Sarah stared down James. "What did you do yesterday?" she asked. "We were expecting you to come over."

James sat on a chair opposite the couch that Adam was sitting on. "No one told me that you were expecting me there," he explained. "Otherwise I would have come, but I went to Diagon Alley instead."

"That's good," Adam said. "Sarah was worried that you would just sit at home and sulk the whole day-that's what she did, we're out of ice cream."

James laughed at the image of the ever productive Sarah lying around eating buckets of ice cream. Freddie came into the living room with a bag of potato chips and a can of soda. "What did you do in Diagon Alley?" he asked as he started to eat hand fulls of chips.

"Nothing really," James shrugged nonchalantly. "I ran into Charlotte."

Freddie snorted, "She seems to be popping up a lot lately doesn't she?" Adam began digging into the bag of chips too.

"She's such a nice woman," Sarah said, ignoring when another snort came from Freddie's direction. "How is she?"

James shrugged, "Fine I guess. We talked for a while over coffee."

"I'm surprised she would even be seen in public with you, James," Freddie said. "Merlin knows she wouldn't even give you the time of day back in Hogwarts."

James rolled his eyes. "Give her a break Freddie," he commanded. "That was a long time ago."

There was a lot of dark muttering from Freddie, who obviously didn't feel like Charlotte deserved a break. "What did the two of you talk about?" Sarah asked.

"Mostly Amber," James admitted.

"Aww," Sarah cooed, much to James' mortification. "She must feel bad for you now that Amber is gone to Hogwarts. Won't one of her kids be going in a few years?"

"Yeah," James nodded. "Isaac."

"There is more," Freddie said accusingly.

"What do you mean?" James asked, while Sarah and Adam looked on, confused.

"James," Freddie said. "I've known you all your life and I know when you're withholding information. It's why we've worked so well as a team for so many years. What aren't you telling us?"

James wasn't actually going to tell anyone about his date with Charlotte but now that he had been called out by Freddie he knew that he had no choice. Freddie would use any means necessary to get the information he wanted.

James shrugged nonchalantly, like it was no big deal. "It's nothing really," he said, while Freddie took a victory sip of his soda, knowing that James was going to tell the rest of the story. "Charlotte just asked me to have dinner with her this Friday."

This comment earned a fair amount of soda to be spat out of Freddie's nose and mouth. There were cries of disgust from James, Adam, and Sarah as soda and spit was sprayed all over them. "You're joking right?" Freddie yelled, wiping the remains of soda off with the back of his hand.

"You know I'm not!" James yelled, aggravatingly wiping the sticky soda from his face also.

There was silence as this information sunk in. "You didn't say yes did you?" Freddie asked.

"I said I would go with her," James told him.

"Yay!" Sarah squealed at the same time that Freddie yelled, "No!"

"James," Freddie said, standing up to yell at James better "You had the perfect opportunity to say no and give her a taste of the rejection you felt for years! And you didn't take it!"

"I don't want revenge, Freddie," James said. "I'm not angry at her."

"But you should be," Freddie said, sitting back down. James couldn't argue with that, a normal person would be furious at Charlotte.

"Freddie, leave James alone," Sarah berated him. "It's his life, he can date who he wants to."

Freddie shook his head at her. "You just want him to date her so that the two of you can become chums. You weren't there, Sarah," he accused. "You don't know what she put him through. It was pathetic."

"Hey!" James yelled.

"Be that as it may," Sarah said, ignoring James. "If I had been there I would still respect James' wishes."

Freddie sighed, knowing that he was outnumbered. "I guess your right. Congratulations James," Freddie stood and patted him on the back. "You finally have a date with Charlotte. It only took you sixteen years."

The rest of the week was uneventful and when Friday came around James was ready to get this date over with, he was tired of Sarah's giddiness and Freddie's brooding. Adam was the only one who was indifferent to the date but he was always with one of the other two so his company wasn't worth seeking.

Charlotte came at the exact time that she said she would. She was never one to be late, not even fashionably so.

James grabbed his coat when the bell rung. He was nervous and he didn't like the feeling. He had been on plenty of dates before; there was no need to be nervous for this one. It was just because it was Charlotte, or maybe it was because he wasn't the one doing the picking up.

"Hey Charlotte," he said when he opened the door.

She smiled up at James. "Hello James." Her long red hair was fixed so that the ends were wavy and she was wearing a blue dress.

She took him to a small but nice restaurant, it wasn't overly crowded and they were served fast but there was something wrong.

Maybe it was because they had such an odd history together but now that they were on a date James didn't know what to say to her. There were just too many unanswered questions for him to know which topics would be safe to discuss and which ones wouldn't. She seemed to be in the same predicament as he was and nothing was said other than genetic small talk. This was ridiculous!

"OK," James sighed. "We both know that there are things that we want to ask the other, so how about we just get everything out on the table."

"How do you purpose we do that?" Charlotte asked, suspiciously.

James thought for a moment, "Let's play twenty questions," he suggested, "ladies first."

"Alright," Charlotte said, warming up to the idea. "I suppose I'll ask the most obvious question first. Who is Amber's mum?"

James smirked. "Pass," he said. "Ask me a different question."

"What? That's no fair!" Charlotte said. "You can't brush off my first question."

"No it's not fair," he said, thinking, "How about we'll each get one chance to pass a question but we will answer it later tonight."

"Fine, "Charlotte huffed, "Where you married to her?"

There was no harm in this question so James answered honestly. "No, I've never been married. What are Isaac and Sophie's middle names?" He strategy was to start with questions about their kids and then work his way up to the questions he really wanted to know, that way she'd be loosened up enough to answer what ever question was thrown at her.

"Sophie's is Alexandria, after my mum," Charlotte answered simply, "and Isaac is mummes," she mumbled Isaac's middle name so that was totally inaudible.

"Pardon?"

Charlotte sighed heavily, "His middle name is James. What's Amber's favorite color?"

James was taken aback by the answer and the sudden change of direction, "Red and gold," He answered her question without hesitation, "my true Gryffindor. Why did you name Isaac after me?" That seemed to be the question that was bugging him the most at the moment.

"Pass." Charlotte said quickly.

As much as James wanted to argue with her he knew that he couldn't and that if he was just patient then they would get back to that question. "OK," he moved on to his next question. "Why did you get married so soon after you left Hogwarts? I thought you wanted to travel the world."

Charlotte groaned, "Now I wish I hadn't used my pass so quickly," she muttered, "but even if I did have a pass left you would just come up with an even worse question for me to answer, wouldn't you?"

James nodded.

She sighed, "I was going to travel, but I only got to France when I received a farewell gift from a certain annoyingly persistent boy I knew back home." At the end of this statement she gave James a look that was half annoyed and half endearing. "It was a midnight blue traveling cloak with silver stars embroidered on it. And when I said "play" my favorite songs would play in the hood and someone could only hear them if their head was in the hood."

James laughed, "I had forgotten that I had given you that. But how did that make you get married?"

"Well," Charlotte explained. "I was sitting in this pub admiring your gift and I couldn't decide whether I was infuriated at you for giving me a gift or flattered because I loved it or angry because _I _loved it."

James smiled, He had never thought he would hear her say that she liked something that he had given her but he was glad that she had liked it.

"Then this man came and asked me why I looked so pissed and we started talking. He was everything that I thought I wanted and I decided to postpone the rest of the trip and go on a date with him. And then we were married and my dream to travel the world became just a dream again."

"I still don't understand why you married him. Just because he was what you thought you wanted?" James asked.

"I do believe it's my turn to ask the question Mr. Potter," she smirked playfully.

"Fine," he growled, completely annoyed that she was avoiding the previous subject.

"How did you know what my favorite songs were?" she asked, much to James' surprise.

"Believe it or not, but I didn't just wake up one morning and decide I was going to be in love with you. When I realized I liked you I made an effort to learn more about you," James explained.

"Was that the week you and Freddie spent asking me random question?" she asked.

"Yes," James said. "Now can you answer my question?"

Charlotte smiled sadly at him. "I married him because I was young and I thought I was in love. The feelings I had for him were the closest I've ever gotten to being in love."

James didn't know what made him say it but then again he had never known when to keep his mouth shut, "You were the only person I was ever in love with," he said.

Charlotte looked as thought his words pained her. "But what about Amber's mum," she asked, looking for a way to bring normalcy back into the conversation. "You loved her, right?"

James smiled sadly, "You want to know about Amber's mum so badly?" he asked. "Well, here's the truth! I wasn't in love with her. Hell, I can't even remember her name! Amber was conceived the night I won my first world cup, the night I found out you were engaged and after a lot of Firewhiskey the woman who gave me Amber started to look like you."

Charlotte looked like she was about to cry when he said this but James went on, knowing that now that it was out he couldn't stop. "It was a one night stand, Charlotte, but I don't regret it because Amber is the best thing that's ever happened to me."

There was a silence after he had said this and James was scared that he had said too much too soon, but Charlotte didn't ask how he could be so stupid as to sleep with an anonymous look-a-like like he had thought she would. Instead she asked something completely different.

"Does Amber know about this?"

James looked at her, surprised by her question, "I didn't draw her a map but she knows that her mum and I were young when she was born and that I didn't knew her very well."

Charlotte seemed to think of this for a moment. "I'm guessing that getting custody of Amber wasn't much of a fight."

James laughed at her accuracy. "What fight?" he asked. "That woman sent Amber to me through the owl post."

Charlotte gasped at this, "That's horrible! What the hell is wrong with her?"

James had to laugh again at Charlotte's concern for Amber's well being; she had only met the girl once after all. "I believe we've lost track of whose turn it is to ask a question," he reminded her.

"Since you were the last one to share an answer then you can ask the next question," Charlotte offered.

"Alright then," James took a moment to think of what he already knew and form his next question, which gave them both time to take bites of their food.

"Why did you divorce your ex-husband?" he finally asked.

"To be honest," Charlotte started. "I don't actually have a definite reason. It was a decision that was formed over time."

"Explain if you can."

Charlotte sighed, "We weren't right for each other from the very beginning and things just fizzled until our whole relationship was just going through the motions. When Isaac was born I started to notice how bad everything was between us. I thought that if we had another child then that would fix things, but that never works. He was never around and I was always at home with the kids and even when I was craving attention from him-any kind of recognition that would let me have the tiniest hope that he still loved me-it didn't matter because he never noticed anything that I did to let him know how I felt. Eventually it was like I didn't even have a husband."

She paused for a moment to analyze his reaction to what she had said. "You must love the irony in this," she said, shaking her head slowly, "I ignored and rejected you for so long I guess I had some bad karma coming my way."

James actually laughed, "I wasn't thinking that, actually, I was wondering how anyone could ignore you when wanted attention. I remember when you practically threw your quill at a teacher because he looked over you when your hand was raised."

Charlotte blushed at the memory. "I thought of you…a lot," she admitted. James didn't interrupt her, knowing how hard this must be for her to say. "I wondered how you were doing, if you thought about me as much as I seemed to think of you, how different my life would have been if I had given you a chance…and then I would feel bad about thinking of you at all. I have no right to."

James smiled at her when she looked shyly up at him. "I did that too," he confided.

"I regret that," she said suddenly, looking into his eyes as she spoke so James could see the sincerity there. "I love my kids but I still think that I could have been so much happier if I'd just went on one date with you. I wouldn't have had to go through years invisible to a man who I spent everyday trying to please. That's why I named Isaac after you."

"How old were Isaac and Sophie when you went through your divorce?" James asked.

"Isaac was three years old and Sophie was two," Charlotte said, taking a sip of her drink. "They don't have the best relationship with their father. But it's as much his fault as it is mine," she said defensively.

"What do you mean?" James asked.

"At first the kids went to stay with him every other weekend, then he met another woman and it became just holidays. They got married and it was birthdays and letters, they had some kids of their own and Isaac and Sophie were lucky to get a letter at all. They were so young during the divorce and with his neglectful behavior, they barely know their dad, they call him by his first name, even to his face and they call his other kids "the others." Isaac and Sophie don't care if they get to see him or not, it's like he's just another man to them, I don't know which is worse, their relationship with their father or their fathers relationship with them."

James had never liked the man that Charlotte had married but as she talked about him and his attitude toward his children James hated him even more with everything said about the man.

Now that things were out in the open the date progressed normally. Charlotte had insisted that since she was the one to pick him up then she would also be the one to drop him off at his home at the end of their date.

"Merlin your house is huge," she said before she could stop herself. They were now walking up the walk to James front porch

"It's not that big," James laughed, "its only two stories."

"For two people? What do you each have a floor to yourself?" she asked sarcastically.

James shrugged, "A perk of playing Quidditch for ten years," he said simply.

"I noticed that you live two houses away from your mum and dad," she pointed out playfully.

"A draw back of having a kid before you knew how to take care of kids," James shrugged simply.

They were now in at James' front door and James didn't know what the hell to do. This had never been a problem when he was the one dropping off his date!

Fortunately, Charlotte took control. "I had wonderful time James."

"Yeah, me too Charlotte."

"I'd like to do this again," she hinted and James grinned.

"What did you have in mind?"

"Well," she began. "It might not be what you'd have in mind for a date but I promised Isaac and Sophie that I would take them to an amusement park tomorrow. I'd like you to come with us if you want."

James was surprised at this offer. Of course he had met her kids before but to go on date with her while her kids were there was a completely different thing. It was serious. "Sure," James agreed. "That sounds great." He knew that Freddie would shit a brick when he found out but he'd deal with that later.

Charlotte beamed up at him when he agreed to go on another date with her and he was about to say good night when she stood on her tiptoes and caught him in a surprise kiss. It was short and quick but sweet.

When she pulled away she looked up at him shyly, waiting for his reaction.

"You do realize that you're going to be the death of my male ego, don't you?" he asked her playfully.

"I do apologize," she said mockingly. "If that's the case you can pick me up tomorrow around noon. How is that for your male ego?"

"Better," he admitted. "But I'm still going to have to do this to make up for the blow to my ego."

"Do what?" she asked. But then James answered her question by bending down to kiss her.

"Mmm," she moaned when he pulled away, "I guess I deserved that."

James couldn't help but laugh at that.

"Goodnight James," Charlotte smiled at the sound of his laugh. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Goodnight Charlotte."

When Charlotte apperated away James went inside and collapsed on his couch. He couldn't help but think that tonight had went very well. Although, he had learned from his seventh year at Hogwarts not to assume that a situation would go one way, but he couldn't help but feel that something would changed because of the success of tonight's events.

**A/N: First off I know some of you think they should have slept together at the end of this chapter but I'm not going to have Charlotte give it up on the first date so get over it. **

**Secondly I believe that Freddie might have some issues with Charlotte after Hogwarts which is why I had him so against James going out with her. **

**Thirdly, I know that James and Charlotte would not know where each other lived but writing directions is as boring as listening to them so assume that they have wizard address books or something like that.**

**Lastly, I need some ideas and reviews give me ideas so I think you all know what you should do. Please, think of the author and review. **


	24. Outing

**A/N: I know I haven't updated in a long time but things have been so crazy lately that I haven't found time to write and updates will probably be sporadic until Christmas. I know that this chapter is way too short but at least I uploaded something. **

"Mum said you were coming but to be honest I didn't believe her."

That was the greeting James received when Isaac answered the door the next morning. James could tell from the grin on the kids' face that he was glad that his mum had told the truth.

"Why hello, Isaac," James laughed at Isaac's odd greeting. "It's good to see you too."

Charlotte, Isaac, and Sophie lived in a little house in a little neighborhood. There were flowers planted in flower beds on the yard to give the place a vibrant feel. Though now that it was September the flowers where starting to die. But it was the thought that counts.

"Isaac, your door answering skills are lacking," this was said by Sophie who had just walked to her brother's side in the doorway.

"What's that suppose to mean?" Isaac asked defensively.

"You haven't even invited him in," Sophie indicated James, who was still on the porch. "Don't just make him stand out there."

Sophie walked away rolling her eyes at her older brother's stupidity and Isaac blushed, realizing his mistake. "Sorry," he apologized, moving aside to let James in.

"It's no problem," James assured him. "It's too nice out to stay inside for long anyway." It was true; it was one of the last warm and sunny days that September had to offer, perfect for going to an amusement park.

Inside of the house Sophie was sitting on a couch tying her shoes. Charlotte came out of a doorway on the other side of the living room.

"Hello James," her greeting was more conventional than Isaac's had been. She walked up to him and stood up on her tiptoes to give him a kiss on the cheek. James wanted a bit more than that but considering that the kids were there he didn't push it.

James hadn't been to an amusement park since he was a kid and he was as eager to start enjoying it as Isaac and Sophie were. Sophie hid her excitement well; she stayed glued to her mother's side, which James thought was odd for a kid her age. Isaac was the complete opposite, he was running around pointing out things he wanted to do and rides he wanted to ride.

Isaac got to do everything that he wanted, though Sophie and Charlotte refused to go on some of the scarier roller coasters that caught Isaac's interest. But James liked Isaac's taste in roller coasters and even if Sophie or Charlotte were too scared to go James would ride anything, much to Isaac's enjoyment.

When the sun started to go down, signaling that it was about time to head home, Isaac spotted a booth where the player shot water into a clowns mouth through a plastic gun and the more water that got into the mouth the faster a teddy bear rose and the first bear to reach the top was the winner.

"I want to play that!" Isaac yelled, pointing to the booth.

"Alright," James agreed, thinking that maybe he could win a prize for Charlotte.

James paid for them to play and he, Charlotte, and Isaac sat down at their stations. It was a second before Charlotte realized that Sophie hadn't joined them.

"Don't you want to play?" Charlotte asked her daughter.

"No," was all she said. She stood a few feet away from the booth with her arms crossed over her chest and a sour look on her face.

"You can play if you want Sophie," James told her. She looked hesitantly at him and then longingly at the booth.

"Just once," she vowed, walking up to the seat on the other side of her mum. The vender started the game and they were off. Squirting a consent stream of water into the mouth of a clown that didn't look to kid-friendly. The water pressure made the teddy bears race each other and James was surprised to find that Sophie was beating him. In fact she was kicking all of their ass's. James' competitive nature willed more water to go into the clown's mouth but it didn't matter because the red light above Sophie's station went off and Charlotte squealed in delight at her daughter's victory. Sophie looked happy too as the surly faced attendant told her what prizes she could choose from.

"I'll take the giraffe, please," she said pointing to a medium sized stuffed giraffe. The attendant handed her what she wanted and then left to deal with other customers.

"We have time for one more ride before we leave," Charlotte announced. There were groans of disappointment from the kids (and James). "I know, but it's getting late and the park is going to close soon," she told them.

"Can we ride the Ferris Wheel last?" Sophie asked.

"Yeah," Isaac agreed and he and Sophie ran in the direction of the Farris Wheel.

"Shall we join them?" James asked, holding out his hand for Charlotte.

"I do believe that would be enjoyable," Charlotte mimicked his tone and put her hand in his. When they got onto the ride Isaac and Sophie had already gotten in to a cart. James and Charlotte piled into a one of their own and the ride lurched foreword.

"So," Charlotte started, sitting close to James, who gladly put his arm around her shoulder. "Have you had fun?"

"Oh yeah!" James exclaimed sincerely, "Isaac has great taste in roller coasters."

Charlotte laughed. "I'm glad you were here to ride them with him. Normally Sophie and I are too chicken to ride the big ones and he has to go on his own or not at all."

"That sucks," James said. "If Amber would have been able to come then she would have rode all of those rides too and probably tricked you and Sophie into going as well."

"I don't doubt that," Charlotte laughed. "We'll have to take her here next time we come."

James looked at Charlotte and smiled. "There's going to be a next time?" he asked.

"Definitely."

"Do you realize how happy you just made me?" James asked.

"It's about time," Charlotte teased. James had to laugh at that which caused Charlotte to compulsively say, "I love that about you."

"What?" James asked, confused but liking where this conversation was going.

"You're always laughing," she said simply, as if it were obvious.

**A/N: Tell me what you think with wonderful review!**


	25. Letters

**A/N: I know that this is a short chapter but I missed Amber and I wanted to give a little update of what she's been up to at Hogwarts. It's not much but you'll hear more when she gets back for Christmas break. **

**Thanks for all of your wonderful review. They make me happy!**

**Note: **James, _Amber _**Enjoy!**

Dear Amber,

Don't worry you'll learn your way around Hogwarts soon enough and then you'll know the castle like the back of your hand. Then if you're ever being chased by the caretaker you can duck into a secret passageway that he doesn't know about and make it back to the Gryffindor common room before he even makes it up to the third floor…but that's another story.

Things around here are going pretty slow. Your grandparents miss you like crazy (but you probably already know that since they're probably writing you like mad). I've tried to take your advice to heart and not be so bored and I think I'm doing well at it. I've started dating Charlotte. You remember her right? You met her at the Quidditch Cup and she has two kids, Isaac and Sophie.

Anyway, this summer we have to go to a muggle amusement park. I went with Charlotte and her kids and I know you'll love it. They have this thing called a roller coaster which is like the carts under Gringots except they are in the air instead of underground.

Have fun and stay out of trouble (that'll happen).

Love,

Dad

_Dear Dad,_

_I'm getting better at finding my way around and I've even found some of the secret passageways._

_By the way if you get a letter saying that some friends and I broke into the schools' supply of racing brooms and had a first year Quidditch match then I should advise you not to believe everything you read. You know I stay out of trouble._

_I can't wait to go to that amusement park you were talking about, it sounds like so much fun!_

_You don't have to remind me who Charlotte is dad, I remember her and her kids. I'm glad you're dating her, she's a nice woman and Isaac and Sophie are great! Just remember the deal you made concerning women you date._

_Love,_

_Amber_

Dear Amber,

I've already gotten that letter from the school and another one concerning a food fight in the Great Hall (I'd like to hear that story when you get home for Christmas). I don't mind you having fun but be smart about it and don't make these letters from the school a repetitive thing. If your grandpa or gran get news that you've been breaking the rules gran will make me do something about it so keep that in mind when you're doing something you know you shouldn't. I don't want to have to punish you for something I might have done when I was in school.

I'm glad to hear that you approve of Charlotte but I don't think I know what deal you're talking about.

Love,

Dad

_Dear Dad,_

_I'll try harder not to get caught._

_I can't believe you don't remember our deal. I was six and you promised that if you ever met a woman who you'd want to marry that you'd let me know. So keep that in mind and if you do decide to get married then give me a heads up._

_Love,_

_Amber_

**A/N: You know what to do so please do it!**


	26. Of Sophie and Birthday's

**A/N: I know I told some people that I would update a week ago and I knew what I was going to write for this chapter I just could never find the time to type it up. But now I have so here you go.**

The weeks that had past since James and Charlotte had started their relationship were great. Nothing could have been better in James' opinion. Well, that wasn't true, it would have been better if Amber had been there but there was only a few weeks left before she came home for Christmas break and he would just have to wait them out like every other parent.

The only thing that wasn't getting better was Sophie's attitude toward James. Although, it was understandable, Sophie's family had consisted of her, Charlotte and Isaac through the girl's whole life. So it wasn't uncommon that Sophie would be protective of Charlotte. Her mum had dated some through her childhood but it had never been anything too serious and Sophie could tell that her mum was serious about James which was something that she wasn't use to.

The only male role model that Sophie had ever had was her dad and according to Charlotte that wasn't a relationship to be proud of. In fact in the weeks that James had been dating Charlotte the kids had not been to their father's house.

So when October came to a close and James came to Charlotte's house on Sophie's birthday James was a little confused to see that Sophie wasn't there.

"Hey," James said when Charlotte greeted him with a kiss, "Where's the birthday girl?"

"She's in the backyard," Charlotte said glumly.

"What's wrong?" James asked, picking up on the mood of the room. Today was Sophie's seventh birthday, she had a party at her grandparent's house with her friends that weekend but James had wanted to come and give her the gift he had gotten her today. To him it was more fun to get gifts on the actually date of birth than it was to get them earlier or later.

"It's David," Isaac said from his spot on the sofa. James had no idea who David was or why Sophie was upset about something he had done.

Charlotte must have noticed James' confused look because she elaborated. "David is my ex-husband."

"Oh," James said as understanding dawned on him. So Sophie was upset about something her father had done, but what? "What happened?"

"Nothing to get upset over," Isaac piped in.

Charlotte threw him a look, "Just because you don't get upset when he forgets your birthday doesn't mean that Sophie won't. You are two different people," Charlotte scolded.

"He forgot her birthday?" James said outraged. He couldn't see how a parent could forget the day that their child was born. Not that he had actually been there for Amber's birth but they celebrated the day she was delivered through the owl post, which was practically the same thing since it was the day she came into his life and it had all of the elements that James imagined would be present at an actual birth: there was crying, anxious family members, a naming process, and many surprises. All in all, looking back, it had been a very good day.

Charlotte nodded. "I tried to tell her not to let it ruin her day but she's not listening to me."

James was starting to see why Sophie was still upset. Sure Charlotte and Isaac had tried to comfort her but neither understood what she was feeling. But he did, not personally but he did have some experience with kids who had an unconcerned parent. "Do you mind if I talk to her?" James asked Charlotte.

"I can't see how it could hurt," Charlotte wondered. "You can try."

James gave what he hoped was an encouraging smile to Charlotte and walked through the house and went through the back door. He saw Sophie sitting on an old swing set, glaring at a blade of grass.

"If you stare at that blade of grass any harder you might set it on fire," James said, walking up beside Sophie. She apparently did not want to be disturbed (or just didn't like who was disturbing her) because she turned her glare from the grass to him for a second before turning back to the grass. That's what he gets for trying to be funny. James sighed and tried a more direct tactic. "Do you mind if I sit here?" James asked, indicating the swing next to her. This time Sophie didn't even look at him, she only gave a shrug of her shoulders to show that she didn't care what he did.

James sat gingerly on the swing and willed it not to break; there was no way that Sophie would warm up to him if he broke her swing set. "Your mum told me why you're upset," James said, deciding to stick with his direct tactic.

"I figured she would," Sophie muttered, sounding slightly betrayed.

James leaned forward and put his elbows on his knees, thinking about what to say next. Fortunately Sophie spoke first, "I'm getting myself upset over nothing," she said to the ground. "David might have sent an owl…it just hasn't gotten here yet."

"Maybe," James agreed. "But do you really believe that?"

James received his answer to that question by the way her shoulders slumped even lower.

"It's the others that made him forget." She stated, still looking at the ground. "He's always liked them better than he liked us."

James really didn't know what to say to that, but figured it was best to let Sophie vent with minimal input on his part.

And so she did: "I don't see what's so great about them, their so whinny and they always get me and Isaac into trouble for no reason when we go over there. David would just rather not see us so he doesn't have to deal with us, but we're ten times better than those little bastards of his."

James was a little surprised to hear this little seven year old be so bitter over her half siblings and call them bastards no less. Charlotte would have had a mini freak out if she had heard. Apparently Sophie realized this and she looked hesitantly at James. "Are you going to tell mum I said that?"

"Said what?" James asked, feigning ignorance.

"Thanks," Sophie muttered, turning back to stare at her blade of grass. There was a silence for a moment before Sophie said something that James was not expecting. "You know, I've never seem mum as happy as she has been the last two months."

"Oh?" was all the comment James could muster, as surprised as he was to hear Sophie admit this.

"She's always smiling and happy to see you when you come over; and Isaac is no different. Neither of them understand why I act the way I do," she told the ground.

"Why do you not like me?" James asked boldly, feeling that this would be the only time that he would get an answer.

"Isaac stopped trying to get David to do father/son things with him after the others started being born," Sophie stated in answer to his question. "I learned the basics of Quidditch so that Isaac would have someone to play with and wouldn't miss dad…I hate Quiddich."

"You think I'm going to be like your dad, don't you?" James asked, stunned, not believing that he hadn't seen that coming. "You think that your mum and Isaac will get attached to me and then I'll leave like your dad did?"

"I don't want to listen to mum explain why it's just the three of us, again," was Sophie's sulky answer. "I figured that I would be able to help Isaac and mum better, when you leave, if I didn't get attached to you like they have."

It took James a moment to think of something reassuring to say but when he did it seemed like the right thing to say. "Sophie," he said slowly, "I don't know your dad, but from what I've heard of him I'm can confidently say that I'm not like him. Besides, I'm not leaving your mum unless she wants me to-you wouldn't _believe_ what I've been through to get her to like me."

"What do you mean?" Sophie asked, curiously, finally looking up from her blade of grass to look at him.

James-realizing what he had just said-changed the subject, "Anyway, I know that you don't really like me and I understand why, but I just wanted to give you something for your birthday." As he spoke James pulled a small box out of his pocket and took a moment to enlarge it with his wand before handing the box to Sophie.

She carefully unwrapped the paper and opened the box to take out its contents. "A scarf?" She asked, not unkindly, merely curious to know why he had chosen to give her a scarf.

James shrugged, "It's not just a scarf," he explained. "It's heated."

Interested now, Sophie wrapped the scarf around her neck and instantly felt a warming sensation through her body. "Wow," she whispered.

James smiled. "I thought it might be the kind of thing you'd like."

"It's purple," she observed.

"That is your favorite color, isn't it?" James asked. "They had a lot of different colors in the store that I got it from but I remembered that you said purple was your favorite color."

Sophie looked down at the scarf, "Yeah," she confirmed quietly. "I'm surprised you remembered."

"It's no big deal," James shrugged.

But apparently to Sophie it was something of a big deal, "David thinks that my favorite color is pink," she informed James, "even though I've told him a million times that it's purple."

"It's like I told you before, Sophie," James said standing up from the swing. "I'm not David. Speaking of which, there are two people inside who haven't forgotten your birthday and would very much like to celebrate it."

"Yeah, OK," Sophie said, standing up too. "I'm going to show Isaac the scarf you got me," she said excitedly. "He'll flip when he sees that it's heated!"

**A/N: OK so Sophie has some trust issues and they won't totally go away after this chapter but at least she'll act better toward James. **

**I'm just going to forewarn you that this story is coming awfully close to where I was planning on ending it. Just so you know. But for those of you who are interested I think I've figured out what my next fanfic is going to be about and I'll tell you more about that in the authors note for the next chapter. **

**Please leave a review before you go.**


	27. Rosie's Friend and Letter Abuse

_Home, home, Amber's coming home. Its Christmas time and Amber's coming home._

These lines had ran through James' head since the start of December and by the week of Amber's return James could be seen bobbing his head to a tune that he had made up for these lines so that they didn't get old (for him anyway).

On the actual day of Amber's return James could be seen practically bouncing with anticipation on the platform with an equally excited Sarah and an embarrassed Adam.

"You two are acting ridiculous," Adam pointed out.

"Aren't you excited that Ethan is coming home?" Sarah asked her husband.

"Yes, but you both need to get use to them being away. It's only been three months and a few weeks since they left and when they leave after the break they will be gone until summer," he pointed out.

Sarah and James stared at him as though what he was saying were blasphemous. "You're really bumming me out, Adam," James said.

"I'm just trying to be realistic," Adam sighed.

"Don't!" Sarah snapped.

And that was when they heard it-the sound that James had dreamed about since Amber had left back in September-the Hogwarts Express blaring its whistle, announcing the arrival of the students.

"It's here, it's here," Sarah screamed as she began bouncing up and down in excitement. The other parents on the platform were beginning to stare, a fact that did not go unnoticed by Sarah.

"What are you looking at?" She yelled at a group of adults who were staring. "Haven't you ever seen a woman excited to see her son? Aren't you excited to see your kids? Your horrible parents!"

"Sarah," Adam said in a soothing tone as he took hold of her shoulders to cease her bouncing. "Why don't you stop yelling at the people and see if you can't find Ethan when he comes off of the train?"

As the train came to a stop and children began to stream out of the doors James looked frantically for Amber.

"There she is!" James practically squealed when he saw Amber, pointing at her as she hurried over to him.

"Dad!" Amber squealed and she jumped into his arms. "I've missed you so much!"

James was so glad to have Amber back with him that he gave her a bone crushing hug.

"Dad," Amber's strained voice came from his arms, "I'm dying."

"You can handle it for a little while longer," James assured her, refusing to let her go anytime soon.

Adam, Sarah, and Ethan were having a similar reunion a little ways away.

"Alright," James said letting go of Amber, "You can breathe now."

"Thanks dad," Amber smiled up at him. She hadn't changed much since September, her hair was slightly longer and up in a messy ponytail, she had gotten a little taller.

"Let's go home," James suggested. After saying goodbye to Adam, Sarah, and Ethan, James got Amber's trunk and they headed out of the barrier and into the muggle world.

"So," Amber started a conversation as James kept an eye out for a safe place for them to apperate. "Are you still seeing Charlotte?"

Amber's tone was calculating and not having actually talked to her about it James wasn't sure how exactly she was taking him in a serious relationship. Therefore he kept his answer short. "Yes."

"Are they going with us to Gran Molly's?" She asked, still with the careful tone, he hated that, he wished she would be happy, or even angry, at least then he would know what he was dealing with.

"That's the idea."

"Great!" Amber finally showed an emotion about the whole thing and flashed her giant smile up at her dad. "We'll be able to have a killer snowball fight!"

James laughed, glad that she was being her happy, energetic self. "When you see Charlotte you should ask her about the time she spent Christmas with Rose," James reminisced. "That was the most epic snowball fight I've ever been a part of."

The Burrow at Christmas time was James' favorite places and when he, Charlotte, Amber, Isaac, and Sophie arrived on Christmas day it did not disappoint. The ground outside was covered in snow as they walked toward the lopsided home which had smoke billowing out of a couple of the chimneys on it's roof.

"What happened to the tradition of staying the whole week leading up to Christmas?" Charlotte asked.

"Well," James began. "Now that all of the grandkids are old and most have families of there own there are just too many of us to squeeze into the house. Plus, Gran and Gramps are _really_ old."

When they came to the door James grabbed Charlotte's hand. "Are you ready for this?" He asked her.

Charlotte rolled her eyes. "James, I've meet your family before," she reminded him. "I spent a whole Christmas break here during our seventh year."

The kids looked mildly surprised to hear this but decided to say nothing.

"Yeah I know," James admitted, "but back then you were just Rosie's friend now you're going in as my…" James paused for a moment, not knowing what terminology to use. The words 'girlfriend' and 'boyfriend' seemed kind of childish to him but then again when had he ever worried about seeming childish? "…girlfriend," it sounded like a question.

Charlotte smiled and Amber got impatient. "Yes, dad, Charlotte's your girlfriend, now can we move it along, I want to see the rest of my family."

James turned to smirk at Amber, "Impatient are we?"

Amber responded by hopping up and down, "It's Christmas, I'm freezing, and I didn't want to say anything but I really have to pee!"

James would have loved to stand in front of the door longer and initiate some good natured torture but it was suddenly pulled open.

"What are you doing standing out here?" Arthur Weasley asked from the other side of the door. Amber saw her opportunity when James turned to see his grandpa and zipped around him and Arthur and headed for the bathroom.

"Merry Christmas Gramps," James greeted, ignoring Arthur's question as he let the group into the warm and cozy house. James could hear the hum of many voices drifting from further inside the house and knew that this Christmas would be just as over crowded as it always was; he loved Christmas. "This is my girlfriend, Charlotte," James introduced, putting an arm around Charlotte, who smiled at Arthur, "and her kids, Isaac and Sophie."

"Wonderful to meet you," Arthur said to the kids, "and it's great to see you again Charlotte."

"It's good to see you too Mr. Weasley," Charlotte smiled while James was silently fuming. He had hoped, in vain, that his family wouldn't remember that Christmas in seventh year that Charlotte had spent with Rose, but as James made more introductions it became apparent that everyone did remember-Molly even went so far as to comment on how 'nice it was that James was 'seeing Rosie's friend.' Never mind the fact that the Quidditch Cup was the first time Rose and Charlotte had spoken in years, Rose had been the first one to introduce Charlotte to the family so she would always be 'Rosie's friend' to them.

Most of the family seemed not to notice James scolding whenever they made any indication that they all already knew Charlotte and if they did notice they didn't comment on it. In fact, Teddy was they first to point out James' predicament; "Face it James, everyone has already met Charlotte."

"Can't you guys just pretend," James pleaded, "for me?"

Obviously no one would pretend so James sulked, which Charlotte thought was very hilarious. "James stop sulking about something so petty," she commanded while trying to hide how funny she thought it was from him (but James noticed and scowled at her).

"You really should stop it," Rose interjected because apparently she didn't think she had done enough damage to James' ego (just for that James scowled at her too). "If I remember correctly you did enough sulking about this same thing during the last Christmas Charlotte was here."

"I wouldn't be sulking at all if it wasn't for you," James mumbled gloomily.

"Look at it this way," Charlotte tried to comfort him. "Since everyone already knows me we don't have to go through small talk for them to discern if I'm good enough for their lil' Jamesie."

James had to admit that she was right but he did scowl at her for calling him "lil' Jamesie," just for good measure.

The rest of the day was pleasant for everyone, Amber was able to instigate a massive snowball fight involving most everyone, Molly out did herself by making sweaters for everyone, everyone treated Isaac, Sophie, and Charlotte as though they had always been there for every Christmas, and for some reason Sophie seemed unable to leave Romulus alone for one minute, maybe it was his red and green stripped hair or pointed elf ears that made Sophie cling to Rom but James had a feeling that Sophie had developed her first crush (much to Rom's annoyance at having a seven year old follow him around).

All seemed well and happy with the Weasley and Potter families (and their extensions), how was James suppose to know that there was something eating at one of those seemingly happy family members and that that something would be set off by an inconspicuous letter brought by and equally inconspicuous owl.

There was nothing about the bringing of the letter that would warrant the reaction it caused when the owl stopped in front of Amber while the family was unwrapping gifts, the letter tied to its foot. Amber looked around slightly confused when the owl stopped in front of her but seeing that no one else thought it strange she untied the letter from its foot and let it fly back out of the window. She quickly read through the letter and her expression went from surprise to a look that seemed like she was uncertain of what to feel. Finally she settled on an uncharacteristic angry look and crumbled the letter up into a ball and stood up.

"I'll be right back," she muttered to no one in particular and headed out of the room.

It was the anger and hasty exit that let James know that something was wrong; so, making up an excuse, he followed his daughter out of the room. It wasn't long until he found her, sitting alone in one of the upstairs rooms that use to belong to Ginny but was now used for storage and the occasional grandkid that wanted to stay the night. She was staring forlornly at the crumpled letter and as James watched her anger came back and she threw the letter across the room with a grunt of disgust.

"I guess I was right then," James said, making his presence know. "You are upset about something."

Amber looked up at him, surprised. "I'm not upset," she denied, looking away.

"You're a bad liar," James pointed out as he walked into the room and sat on his mum's old bed with her. "What's up kiddo?"

"It's-it's," she started and then sighed. "You wouldn't understand."

Despite himself James panicked, "It's not _the_ girl thing is it?" he asked aghast, "because if it is I think that mum or Lily might be better suited to give you this talk." James was babbling out of discomfort.

"NO!" Amber silenced his babbling and groaned. "Now if I don't tell you you'll think the worst and send Gran up here for a very uncomfortable talk, won't you?"

"Yes. So tell me what's got you so angry and at a piece of paper, no less," James nodded toward the abused letter in the corner of the room.

"It's not the letter, dad," Amber rolled her eyes at him, "It's who wrote it."

James still had no idea what her problem was and there was a moment of silence as he waited for her to continue. When she didn't James was forced to pry even further. "Who wrote it?"

"Darrie," Amber said as though that explained everything.

"Who?"

"I told you that you wouldn't understand," Amber huffed and dropped her head into her hands.

"Amber is this Darrie person bothering you because if she is you need to tell me so that I can do something about it," James told her.

Amber lifted her head to look at him, her eyes shining with unshed tears. "It's not that I don't want her to write me-I mean…I just don't-I tried to tell her-but now I'm not so sure that I made the right decision. She wants to get to know me-but I don't want-but I do…. I'm so confused!" By the end of this mini rant Amber was openly crying and James was confused too.

"Okay Amber," James kneeled in front of her and put both hands on her shoulders to sit her upright, going into father mode upon seeing tears. "First off you need to calm down. Take deep breaths," he suggested in a calm yet stern voice.

Amber did as she was told and took several deep breaths until she was calm enough to talk right.

"Now," James said in the same comforting voice, "you need to tell me exactly who Darrie is."

"She's my birth mum, dad."

There was a moment of silence in which James stared at Amber in pure shock, not knowing what to make of this. "…I probably should have known that," he finally said.

"She first wrote to me during my second week at Hogwarts," Amber told him, beginning to open up. "She said that she had wanted to sooner but she didn't know where to send the letter; she had to wait until she knew I would be at Hogwarts." Amber took a deep breath as she began to tell him. "She said that she was sorry…that she had been scared and young and had acted on an impulse that she regrets everyday. She wanted to make amends. She wanted to get to know me. She wanted to be the mother that she should have been eleven years ago. She wanted my forgiveness…But daddy," Amber began to cry as she spoke. "Dad, she was asking too much! I don't want to forgive her! I don't want her regrets, I don't want her apologizes, and I don't want her!" Amber was sobbing again but this time she had flung her arms around James' neck.

"Amber," James tried to sooth her by rubbing circles into her back. "I wish you would have told me about this."

"What could y-you have done," Amber challenged, hiccuping midway through.

"Well, nothing," James admitted. "But I still would have liked to have known, but that's beside the point. I thought that you wanted to know your mum?" he questioned. Hadn't she begged him to tell her about her birth mother before she had left?

"That was before I knew that she didn't want me," Amber admitted, letting go of James and looking at him with watery hazel eyes. "Now I-I don't know what I want. Part of me wants to tell her that I don't care how sorry she is and that she should never talk to me again…but another part of me still wants to know about her-about why she sent me away. What should I do?" She asked, and her hazel eyes-which looked identical to James'-begged him for answers that he couldn't give her.

"I wish I could tell you, Amber, I really do. But it's up to you. That's your decision Amber."

Amber hung her head again, dejectedly. "Thanks a lot," she muttered sarcastically.

"But I can tell you," James said lifting her head back up gently, "that no matter what you choose you'll always have me and the rest of your family to back you up."

"I know dad."

"Good," James stood up and held out a hand to help her off of the bed too. "But you know," he mused, thinking out loud. "If she does really want to get to know you then I'm sure that she would be more than willing to go whatever pace you set. I mean it's not like you have to start calling her mum and go live with her, you can do whatever makes you feel comfortable."

Amber seemed to think about this for a moment and then smiled up at her dad.

"Thanks dad, that helps."

**A/N: Alright, I know you all want to kill me for not updating in so long and I completely understand but I do have my excuses: writers block, computer crash, computer sent off to be fixed, Christmas (in that order). I know you don't really care about my excuses and that I have a tendency to tell more than anyone wants or needs to know but the story has been updated now so please forgive me and if it's not asking too much review.**


	28. Epilogue

**A/N: I know I just updated but I figured that since it took so long for me to do so and that I had already had this chapter written that I'd go ahead and finish this story up. I'd like to thank everyone who has read, reviewed, alerted, and faved this story and for being so patient. Enjoy!**

Four Years Later

The long red train known as the Hogwarts Express came to a lurching halt when it reached it's destination, Platform 9 ¾. Random pieces of luggage fell from the rack over the heads of the three occupants of this particular compartment.

"We really need to find a compartment that's not falling apart!" Lauren complained as she picked up her robes and books that now scattered the floor.

"Why would we do that?" Amber asked, bending down to help her friend. "We've sit in this compartment since first year. It's tradition."

"Traditions are meant to be broken," Lauren stated.

"You say that about everything," Ethan pointed out as he watched the girls pick up the last of Lauren's luggage. "Traditions, rules, records, plates."

Lauren chose to ignore this comment and turned to Amber. "You just don't want to change compartments because you're afraid of change," she accused.

"I'm not afraid of change," Amber argued, getting her own luggage down from the rack.

"You freak out every time someone on the team graduates," Lauren pointed out, leading the trio's way out into the busy platform.

"That's only because I'll miss them and we'll have to go through tryouts again to fill their empty position, and no one we get from tryouts are as good as their predecessors," Amber tried to argue as they searched the crowd for their families.

"Whatever," Lauren let the argument drop while somehow giving Amber the felling that she had lost the abandoned argument. "I see my folks. Write me, 'kay?" Lauren quickly walked away with a small wave at her friends. She was never one for goodbyes so Amber knew that her surly behavior was just her way of dealing with the fact that she wouldn't see either of her friends over the summer. But that didn't mean that what she had said didn't eat at Amber.

"I'm not afraid of change," Amber told Ethan as soon as Lauren was gone.

"I know," Ethan said putting a comforting arm around her shoulders. "You'd just rather it not happen."

"Exactly," Amber nodded, glad that someone got it. "I've handled things at home very well, if I do say so myself."

"Speaking of which how is everyone? I haven't seen James and Charlotte in a while."

"They're fine, though I expect that you'll see enough of our lot this summer."

"Probably," Ethan agreed with a laugh.

"You know what I don't get."

"What?"

"Why are we spending our precious alone time talking about my family?"

"You call this alone time?" Ethan asked gesturing toward the crowd around them.

"Shut up and kiss me already," Amber commanded and Ethan was only too happy to oblige.

Lauren was wrong about Amber, true she didn't like change but she was perfectly acceptable to some changes. Her relationship with Ethan being the most recent example, but there were plenty of others. She was now on speaking terms with her birth mother. She didn't call the woman 'mum' or anything like that but they wrote to each other and Amber had even visited her last summer.

She had also experienced many changes in her home life over the years. A fact that was glaringly obvious as she said good-bye to Ethan and walked toward her family. A few years ago that would have just been her dad but a while back it had grown to include Charlotte, Isaac, and Sophie. This change didn't bother Amber, she was just glad that her dad was happy, but that didn't mean that she wasn't happy too. She had always wanted siblings and she was getting her wish-admittedly a little later than she would have imagined but she was getting her wish just the same.

And not just with Isaac and Sophie; Amber was surprised that Charlotte could make it to the platform at all with her belly swollen with a baby that was due in just a few weeks.

Although, as Amber made her way to her growing family she noticed more than just Charlotte's extreme pregnant state. For some reason James was looking at her with complete shock written all over his face.

Amber decided to ignore it.

"Mum, dad," Amber greeted her parents, happily hugging them both. James barely acknowledged his eldest daughters' hug, even though he hadn't seen her in months, he just continued to look at her with a bewildered expression.

Amber, starting to get concerned, looked from Charlotte's amused expression to Isaac, who looked just a little uncomfortable, to Sophie, who looked slightly embarrassed, and back to James, who was now trying his hardest to compose himself.

"Do I want to ask?" Amber asked her mum, who seemed the only one who could look straight at her-besides James who hadn't managed to stop ogling yet.

"It's nothing really," Charlotte started to explain, only to be cut off by James.

"Amber, I realize that you're growing up but, for the love of Merlin, could you not do that in my line of sight," James begged.

"Do what?" Amber asked, not understanding.

"Let's just say that everyone saw a certain Gryffindor Quidditch player eating your face," Sophie giggled, oblivious to the fact that her description made James cringe.

You're lucky dad didn't come over there and give your snog buddy a piece of his mind," Isaac said in the tactless manner of most twelve year old boys.

"I don't think I like the term 'snog buddy,'" Charlotte scolded him.

"Me either," Amber said in the best threatening voice she could muster (she was still getting use to being the 'big sister' and hadn't gotten the bossy part down yet).

"Just answer one question for me," James spoke up against his better judgment. "Who was the boy you were snogging?"

Amber rolled her eyes for his benefit. "Don't tell me that you don't recognize Ethan Austin."

Amber walked away after dropping this bomb so as not to hear Charlotte's squeal of delight or James' groaning, "I'm never going to hear the end of this!"

**A/N: Ok so I first wrote this chapter in James' point of view but decided that Amber's would be a nice change but this is a part of the first draft that I wanted to keep but couldn't figure out how to work it in so it's going to be just something extra for your enjoyment.**

After Isaac and Sophie had found them James and Charlotte scanned the crowd for their eldest child and James was shocked at what he saw. Amber was there, amongst the crowd, taller than she had been since he last saw her-but only just-her face was loosing it's childish roundness, and she also, at fifteen, had the beginnings of a womanly shape and as much as James hated that she was growing up he hated even more that others noticed this, especially the boy who was eating his little Amber's face!

"What the hell!" James exclaimed, looking on. He started to storm over there and save his poor daughters face but a hand on his shoulder stopped him.

"James," Charlotte said, "Don't embarrass her."

"Embarrass her!" James exclaimed, "I'm trying to save her."

"From what, exactly?" Sophie asked in that slightly smart ass way she does.

"From that boy eating her face off!"

"James," Charlotte chided him while Sophie giggled at James comparing kissing to getting one's face eaten off. "Be nice, it's cute that Amber has her first boyfriend."

"Don't say that word," James hissed, covering his ears and standing there, helpless as his daughter snogged some boy, completely oblivious to the fact that her family was only a few feet away or that her poor dad was dieing a little inside.

**A/N: Once again, thanks to EVERYONE. I'm not sure what my next story will be but it'll be one of the one's mentioned on my profile so look on that if your interested and you can PM me and tell me what you preference is if you'd like. **


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